Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own these characters. (Insert frowny face here) They are the property of James Cameron and crew. (Insert witty/sarcastic comment here) I am simply just borrowing them for this fan fiction…

Pairing: Touches of Max and Logan (the end of a relationship) and Max and Alec, eventually. I will try not to bash Logan. At least not too much…

Summary: This story takes place after Freak Nation. Just as everyone is settling in news comes in that someone is holding transgenics in a psychiatric hospital, what happens when one of TC's own gets caught? Read to find out. This is an edited version…I kind of hated the original first chapter so I changed it up a bit.

A/N: This is my first Fan fiction ever...I need constructive criticism...please? and reviews in general would be nice :) I'll try to update as often as I can... reviews may persuade me to update faster...just sayin...:)

Max sat in her office in TC head in her hands.

It had been a month since they took a stand, a month since the military surrounded TC each side waiting for the other to make their move. Finally the tunnels in and out of TC were functioning and ready for supply runs and emergency exits if need be. They were able to turn an old apartment complex and a couple old hotels into livable space for all of them, but as more arrivals came in everyday they had to start doubling up in apartments. Lucky for them, most of the transgenics didn't mind grouping together.

There was still so much to do. There was still the matter of the runes on her body that needed translating, more had popped up since the siege began and it looked as though part of the message was missing. On top of that, if they were going to make it out of this thing alive they needed to get a plan together for the inevitable moment when the troops or the Familiars stormed the gates. She wasn't naive enough to believe they would all make it out unscathed, she knew there would be casualties, but if the plan was good enough maybe they could minimize the actual number. However, Max was starting to wonder if she had gotten in over her head…if it hadn't been for Alec… she isn't sure how she'd get through all this.

The charismatic X5 had become her SIC and if she cared to admit, which she wouldn't, her best friend in all this mess. Of course they still argued. She was still more of a bitch to him then she had to be. He still made it his mission in life to annoy her. However, a lot of the venom that used to accompany their words were gone. She had come to count on his input. Specifically, since the night she told him about Ben.

An immense problem since the siege started was some of the transgenics and trans-humans didn't trust Max still, at least not a hundred percent. She of course was a 09er and a "traitor"...god she was so tired of hearing that. It really wasn't their fault. She knew it was because it had been drilled in their heads since her unit bailed. She also understood that brainwashing like that doesn't just go away over night, but it still sucked. Fortunately, with Alec backing her up, it seemed to be less and less of a problem. Alec obviously, had held a lot of respect within the ranks and for that and his support she was grateful. But she'd be damned if she would ever tell him that. She silently wondered to herself what Alec's role had been in Manticore. She realized she never asked him much about his past, maybe because she thought he wouldn't tell her. Maybe because the one time she had asked he had shot her down, throwing the escape in her face. But their friendship had grown since then. Of course he had never asked about her past either. She didn't want to think too much on why she seemed to care … Although, she was particularly grateful for that, as there were things she hadn't told anyone. Not even OC so how would she be able to explain her past to him?

She had just gotten off a video call with Logan…they were again fighting over their relationship, or lack thereof. The virus was still firmly in place, and they were drifting apart. Max just didn't have time, and honestly didn't want to be bothered. She wasn't even sure how she felt anymore, and that scared her more than anything. She once thought she loved this man. They had danced around each other for almost 2 years now. She realized that she had put Logan so far up on a pedestal he could do no wrong, but she was starting to understand that he did not understand….at all.

*****FLASHBACK******

Logan looked at Max and their intertwined hands and for the first time since the "almost cure" he felt hope. Hope for himself and Max, hope for the transgenic cause, and hope for the downtrodden, broken world they lived in. Sure the siege wasn't ideal, but Max was taking a stand and he couldn't be more proud that he was here to witness this amazing moment with her.

Max was in a euphoric high. She was surrounded by friends, by family, and for the first time in a long time she felt comfortable in her own skin. For the first time ever, she accepted who she was and she was damn proud. However, she knew this moment wouldn't last. There was so much to get done. So much to figure out. She looked down at her hand in Logan's not quite remembering when he grabbed it and a feeling of dread hit her. She knew then what had to be done. She knew now where she belonged…

The flag was up and the crowd was thinning out, Max looked to Alec,

"Tell everyone I want a meeting in command, I'll be down in a minute."

"You got it Max" Alec said following the crowd off the roof.

Max turned to Logan.

"Thank you, for your help today"

"Anytime, so what happens next?"

"Well, for one we have to figure out how to get you, Original Cindy and Sketchy out of here. You can't keep breathing the air in TC"

"Okay? But I sort of meant with us Max…"

"Us? Logan right now I can't think about us. I have an army of people downstairs, waiting for me to tell them what the next plan is, and how we are going to survive this siege."

"But Max, I know the whole thing with you and Alec was a lie. I know you aren't together. At some point we are going to have to figure this out."

"Logan I…you're right the thing with Alec was to push you away, and he went with it only because I asked him to. But it doesn't change anything with us. Now is not the right time for us to be together. Especially now. With the siege, and the virus. End of discussion. I'll see you downstairs." Max was staring to walk towards the door and Logan called out to her.

"Max wait! Is it ever going to be the right time for us?"

Not turning around out of fear of losing her nerve to end things with him. Looking at the door in front of her she said

"No, Logan I really don't think it will be. I just need you to understand…please. You will always have a place in my heart, but things are too different now. I'm different now."

He tried, she knew he did, but in the end it didn't change the fact that they all went through the hell that was Manticore, and he didn't. For the first time since the escape she was around people like her and it felt like home. She was proud to be herself. No more hiding. No more running. There were still things she didn't want him to know, because she knew if she told him things would change even more. Maybe it wouldn't be intentional…but she knew he couldn't handle the truth of what she had done. And the things he said about Alec…Max didn't understand why he couldn't see that Alec had come a long way from the guy he was when Manticore met its fate. Logan had been trying to get back together ever since the flag raising, trying to convince her nothing had changed, and she just couldn't do that. EVERYTHING had changed, he just didn't want to see it.

Alec stood at the door, she hadn't looked up so he wasn't sure if she heard him approach until he realized how lost in thought she was. I wonder what's going on in that head of hers. He watched her for a moment, watching closely as the emotions played over her usually unreadable face. Max didn't let people in, but then again none of them really did. Emotions and how to deal with them were as foreign to transgenics as feline grace was to the ordinaries. Their Manticore masks always firmly in place. The façade of his "always alright" mantra, and her bitch defense mechanisms. Maybe it was part of the wiring in their brains that made them that way, maybe it was part of their fucked up child hood…or their training, whatever the reason he understood the need to let the mask fall for a moment if for no other reason than to be able to breathe a little easier. He knew he shouldn't be watching, but he just couldn't look away. After a couple more minutes he decided to knock.

Manticore mask firmly back in place, Max looked up at Alec as he leaned against her door-frame. "What's up Alec?"

"Wanted to see if you were ready to go over the supply run plans, Luke and Dix pulled some blue prints for us on this warehouse in sector 3. There's apparently enough food to last us a good couple months." Alec walked in further to sit on the tattered old couch he had acquired for Max's office.

"Okay, just give me a few minutes…" Max rubbed her temples. Logan had given her a headache…again. Right now I have to just focus on the task at hand. That is feeding the residents of TC.

Alec got up and walked over, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder "You okay Maxie?"

She quirked her eyebrow Am I really that transparent? "Don't call me that!" She said only half meaning it. She had to pull herself together. Manticore mask back on her face. She shrugged off his hand, got up and moved towards the door.

Hiding the hurt in his eyes with his own mask, Alec put his trademark smirk in place "you didn't answer my question…Maxie" following suit.

Smart aleck...well two can play that game… "I'm always alright!" she flashed him a half smile and walked into the dimly lit hallway.

"Uh huh….yeah except that's my line…" Alec whispered frowning, he followed her down the hall. He remembered her asking him once, so he figured what the hell, why not…."Look Max if you ever need to talk…."

Cutting him off, she told him "Alec, really I'm fine…" with no conviction in her voice whatsoever…but there was a task at hand that needed to be dealt with.

Alec let it drop for the moment but he would be asking again later. He really didn't want to think on why he cared so much…