I Don't Like Surprises, a dark angel fanfic

Disclaimer: Big shock, I don't own 'em! I'm just messing around, stealin' 'em, cause I can't even rent 'em! How sad is that? So if you still feel compelled to sue, well, you have to have like no life!

Author's Notes: This is a comedy A/M ficcy. Big freaking surprise, I know. More like, been done a thousand times. But this one's got made up characters and lots of embarrassing twists? So be a sport and read it anyway, okay? And then you can rant or rave to me in e-mail. Isn't that so much better then just stopping right now? I mean you already went to the trouble of clicking the link and everything!

Summary: Max gets unexpected visitors just when her life is starting to straighten itself out. Romantic Comedy.

Rated: PG-13/R

Song Quote: "This life is overrated, but I hope that it gets better as we go…" from 'Here Without You,' by 3 Doors Down

Feedback: Love it? Hate it? Go on, you'll be my best friend! See, all you have to do is click the little link!

Date Started/Date Finished: August 25th, 2002/April 5th, 2006

I Don't Like Surprises By Delenn

Max pushed aside the arm that was draped around her waist, and literally rolled out of bed. Landing in a cat-like position on the floor, she shook her hair out of her face and looked up at the clock. 7:01am on a Sunday. Max had the day off work; by all rights, she should still be sound asleep right now.

Groaning, Max tried to clear her head to remember why she was awake in the first place. 'Right, door.' Annoyed, she fumbled around the room, looking for her clothes from the night before. Unable to find them, she settled for her robe, which had been cast aside on a chair.

Max took a moment to look in a mirror as she passed, on her way out of the bedroom, and grimaced at her messy appearance. 'At least I'm dressed.' Shrugging, she strode out of the bedroom, across the living room, and to the door. 'Who the hell could this be?' Max opened the door tentatively and stared at the man and woman on the other side with irritation, "Hello?"

Most people wouldn't open a door without seeing who it was first, but when you could take out a 275lb linebacker with your thumb and index finger, you didn't need to worry. Besides, government agents out to kill transgenics just wouldn't knock.

The woman smiled brightly, her voice high pitched with an almost childlike hope that seemed natural on her, despite her graying hair. "Maxine?"

Max cocked her head to one side, her brain functioning to place the seemingly familiar people. Then recognition hit, 'Oh god.' She couldn't help but stare for a second, "Diane? Hector?"

Hector grinned, showing perfect neon white teeth, and pulled Max into a big bear hug. There was no to-do about it, belaying the fact that he seemed upper class, and showing that he was just the friendly person he had always been. "How ya doing, baby?"

Max returned the hug gently, careful about her superhuman strength, as she heard shuffling from the bedroom, signaling her partner was awake. Hector gave Max a final squeeze, which lifted her off the floor, set her down, and released her.

Diane looked at Max for a moment, and then her face folded into familiar creases of worry as she took in the younger woman's tousled appearance and the fact that she was in a robe. "Oh dear, did we wake you up, Maxine?"

Max was about to reply when Alec shuffled out of the bedroom, clad in a pair of jeans, and headed towards the kitchen, his eyes on the floor. He was obviously only half awake and just about as upset about it as Max had been. "Who was at the door, Max?"

Max tossed a look that could kill at Alec for embarrassing her just by being there, so casually and infuriatingly being there, when her foster parents were, also, there. Her glare was lost on Alec, who had his face in the fridge. She sighed, and turned back to Diane and Hector. "Uh, why don't you come and sit down?"

Predictably, Alec's head snapped up at the notion that others were there. The smart-ass remark he had all planned died on the tip of his tongue when he realized it was an older, decidedly parental looking, couple at the door. Determining to find out exactly what was going on before he said something that further embarrassed Max, and she decided to just flat-out kill him, Alec wisely forwent any comments. He grinned guiltily as he poured himself a glass of milk, hoping to appease Max, "Anybody want something to drink?"

Diane sat down on the couch, and Hector was halfway there. He smiled a very forced smile and shook his head, sharing a pointedly questioning look with his wife about the unruly looking young-man. "No, we're fine, thank you."

Max was just shutting the door, trying not to seem totally helpless in this situation, when a body barreled into it, and Original Cindy pushed her way inside. "Hey Boo, OC gotta split, just forgot lunch. Ya catching the late shift?"

"I'm off," she quietly replied, face now held in one of her hands and the other raised in an 'God, why me?' gesture.

Max watched with trepidation as Original Cindy took a much needed breath and headed towards the kitchen, "Hey Alec, hey…" she paused in mid-stride and looked at Diane and Hector who were now both seated. She turned back to Max, confusion and a slight distrust of strangers plainly written across her face, "Boo, you got company?"

Max finished locking the door, straightened up - this was her life after all - and smiled slightly, "My used-to-be foster parents," she saw Alec raise an eyebrow in questioning, he looked just about to spit out his milk, "Diane and Hector Esquleeni."

Nodding towards Diane and Hector, the distrust left Original Cindy's face and was replaced with a kind of knowing smile. "Original Cindy, Max's roommate, who ain't about to be late for work."

Original Cindy turned quickly towards the kitchen, where Alec, who had significantly recovered from the foster-parent thing, was holding up her lunch. Original Cindy just took a quick look between the four other people in the apartment, and without further comment, she grabbed her lunch and left.

Alec sipped his glass of milk and started back towards the bedroom, not quite sure how to act without coming across exactly the way he didn't want to come across. "And I'm Alec…" he looked up at the clock, then back towards the Esquleeni's, who looked like they would be prepared to put him into serious questioning. Hastily he added, "I better get ready or I'll be late too. Uh, nice to meet you."

Max sat down across from Diane and a speechless Hector and fidgeted with her robe. She knew that Alec was making a concentrated attempt not to say anything offensive, and she appreciated not having to explain all that right now. Trying for casual, and succeeding very well, Max said, "Sorry, everyone's busy in the morning."

Diane nodded politely, even though everyone had left the room besides the three of them, somewhat confused at what was going on. She had known that Max would have her own life going on, Diane just hadn't expected to see it all so soon, "Oh."

"Uh," Max half-heartedly hoped they hadn't been watching the news the last few months, no, she really hoped that they hadn't been watching the news. All that great news with her on as top freak on the cover, "not that I'm not happy to see you guys, but… uh… why are you here?"

Hector had finally regained enough speech, after watching all these rather peculiar people come in and out. The fact that Alec had made a point to be nice was not lost on Hector, and he fully intended to take that up with the young man at the first opportunity. Right now, however, his biggest focus was the young woman that essentially he had considered as a daughter. "Well, Max, the fact is, we've been looking for you, since you left really."

Diane interrupted her husband to point out in a slightly hushed tone, emotions threatening to overwhelm her, "Always, we were always looking for you, Maxine, we missed you so much!"

Max smiled softly, something she had started doing with Alec again, and something that she had missed doing for a long time while Manticore was after her. "I missed you too, it's just, wow, that you found me." Mentally she added, 'And with luck, not from the news!'

Hector grinned widely at this, he was proud of himself for having tracked her down, Max had been a hard person to find. "The thing is, we didn't have the resources, baby, to find you. Then the government took over our program," he didn't notice Max's sharp intake of breath, "metals for shipping out to foreign military placements, with the money to buy lots of it. Then, business was looking up, I got a promotion to president of the company, and we finally had the resources to find you."

Max felt like laughing, crying, and screaming, all at once. All the time she had been so careful about Manticore not finding her, she had never thought that maybe Diane and Hector wanted to and were trying to. "So, how did you finally get to Seattle, all the way from Iowa still?"

Diane nodded and patted her husband on the back, she was proud of him for finding their girl too; she was glad that their searching hadn't been in vain. "Actually, Maxine, we took a four month vacation and drove, we've been everywhere from Iowa to here because we had a hunch you were on the west coast. Haven't even been paying attention to the news; just stopping in every town looking for Maxine Guevara."

Max could see the hurt in their eyes, they were glad to have her back, yes, but unsure as to why she had run away at fifteen. And she wasn't quite ready to explain about Manticore, it was still a sore subject. "I needed to find my family. I found them, some of my siblings that I was separated from. After that, it was kind of hard to leave Seattle." She snorted inwardly at that, kind of hard was an understatement, how many times had she refused to leave, despite the danger?

Diane reached across the couch and took Hector's hand in her own, as though she wanted to touch Max, but was slightly wary of doing so. There was five years of distance to make up for. "Well, darling, it seems as though you have a life here now. I guess you just flew the coop a little earlier then expected."

All three laughed, even if it was a slightly tense laughter. Max was trying to figure out what to say, how to bring up the rest of her life to people she had once thought of as her guardians, when there was a cough from behind her. Max turned her head to see Alec had come back out of the bedroom, fully dressed, and now looking decidedly nervous. "Alec?"

Alec for his part was trying not to bolt right out the door without so much as a goodbye, but again, not the impression he was trying to make. Or not make, depending on how you looked at it. His nervousness was coming from the eyes of Diane and Hector firmly planted on his person, and not knowing quite how to say goodbye to Max. He was sure that kissing her was out of the question, and it wasn't looking as though a hug would be appreciated right now either. "Normal's going to kill me if I'm late again, I better get going."

Max nodded, also not quite sure how to say goodbye, and have a nice day - she was thinking that a handshake was just not going to cut it. "Ahh, don't sweat it, he'd never fire his favorite employee!" she teased lightly.

Alec nodded, a mischievous grin on his face, "What makes you say that?" Remembering the glares on him pretty quickly, he just shrugged, "So, I'll be off at four, give me a call, okay?" He meant it in an, 'I'm going to give you time to catch up,' way, but from the cleared throats of the Esquleeni's, he immediately knew it had come out wrong.

For her part, Max's eyes widened slightly, and she winced, knowing what Alec had meant and also having heard how it came out, "Uh huh."

Figuring that he was already in deep enough trouble to warrant a huge lecture, whenever the parents got a hold of him, and that right now he was looking like a total jerk, Alec leaned down and kissed Max quickly. He was promptly out the door as fast as could be considered normal, with a called, "Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Esquleeni!"

Max had to laugh, she had finally found something that scared Alec shitless; her foster-parents! Still slightly giggling, Max asked, "Hey, make yourselves at home, everyone else does. I'm gonna go get dressed quick, then we can go somewhere and talk, okay?"

Hector was too busy looking after the closed door, like he would very much like to go right after Alec, to answer, so Diane did. "Of course, Maxine, take as much time as you need. Hector and I will take you out to lunch when you're ready."

Max nodded and jumped up quickly, headed to her room and then for milk, she needed a big glass of milk to calm her nerves. "Be back in a sec!"

"Boy, you look like you just escaped a mob of angry White's," was the greeting Alec received from Original Cindy as he walked into Jam Pony, "how'd it go with the foster's?"

Trying to ignore the way that every non-transgenic in the building quickly moved out of his way except for Original Cindy, Alec grabbed a package from Normal and proceeded to hit himself in the head with it, repeatedly. "Why must I mess everything up?"

Laughing, Original Cindy walked over to her friend and took the package from him, chiding lightly, "That bad, huh?"

Holding his hands up in a motion that said he would no longer beat himself with the package marked fragile, Alec accepted the package back from Original Cindy. "Let's put it this way, I'm not sure who is going to kill me first, Max or the Esquleeni's." He motioned towards the door and away from all the frightened humans, "I saw another package around this area, you wanna grab it and make a run with me?" half jokingly he added, "We can plan my will."

Once again reduced to laughter, Original Cindy took a quick look at the address on the package and walked up to Normal to get one in a similar area. When she returned, Original Cindy nodded, slapping Alec on the back in a comforting gesture, "Definitely. Look at it like this, lover-boy, if you're already going to die, OC thinks you better get in as much trouble as possible before you do."

A small chuckle escaped Alec; he was fully planning to give Max's foster parents something to talk about now, because he was sure they were going to interrogate him to the best of their ability. Then a small shudder passed through him as they got their bikes and took off, "If those two have anything vaguely to do with Manticore, it's over. I don't love Max that much."

Picking up on his still teasing tone, even if she knew that her friend was expressing real concern, Original Cindy decided to exploit this newfound but always known weakness. "Ooh, boy, you said the L-word, OC ain't never going to let you forget that!"

Quickly changing the subject now that they were away from prying eyes attached to ears close enough to hear the conversation, Alec began in a dry monologue, "I, Alec, hereby bequeath my earthly possessions to be divided amongst Max and Original Cindy as they see fit, with the exception of my bike and helmet going to Joshua. All this is under the condition that my gravestone reads; Alec died a happy man, having nailed Maxine Guevera many times before his death. Otherwise all my stuff shall go into storage. You'll get nothing, nothing!" he ended this speech with a pretend evil laugh.

When Alec looked over at the bike rider next to him he found that she was genuinely laughing, and so hard that she almost fell off her bike, "Alec," she announced, between laughs, "boy, Max'll give up that big TV just so that your grave don't say that. Don't you worry though; OC'll take care of it. Two reasons, first, OC ain't passing up the look on Max's face, and second, I love that TV more then you or my Boo."

Grinning, Alec raised one hand and put it over his heart, "I solemnly sear that this is my will, and Original Cindy can attest to witnessing it," he suddenly swerved in almost a U-Turn, "shit! Follow me, OC, we missed the street!"

Following right behind him, Original Cindy got her laughter under control and muttered loud enough for him to hear, "Boy, Max always said you'd be the death of her but if Original Cindy is killed by traffic she is coming back to haunt your ass!"

The two friends laughed as they successfully weaved through traffic and to their package destinations; one delivery closer to being off for the day.

"So, how is the enchilada? Good?" There was a pause as the woman took a sip of water, nervously glancing around the table. "You could get something else if you want."

Looking down guiltily at her only half eaten plate of food, Max sighed and willed herself to relax. Not that she intended to pass up the free food; it was just taking her a while to get her appetite back after Alec's little performance earlier. She could just see the questions building in Diane and Hector's eyes. "No, it's cool. I'm just a little tired is all, taking my time with the food thing."

Apparently, this was one ill-timed, misunderstood, comment more than Hector could sit by and listen to without saying something. Diane put her hand on his arm to calm him but he shook the hand off and fixed his gaze on Max's wide eyes. "Who is that man we met this morning, Alec, I believe?"

Sighing loudly, Diane glared at Hector for intruding into a life that really they had no right to question. Actually, it was more his bluntness that irritated her, but she understood, she had missed Max too, and so much. "What your fa-Hector meant to ask is: are you happy? With your life, here, you're happy, right?"

A soft smile moved over Max's face until it lit up her eyes as she thought about her life now. Living with Original Cindy, her best friend ever, being with Alec. It was wonderful. Of course there was still White and Manticore and the horribleness of being considered a freak by ninety percent of the population, but still, it was about as happy as her life had ever been. "Yeah, I mean, it's not perfect, but mostly, yeah."

Grinning broadly at her, Hector grabbed the pitcher of water and refilled Max's glass before she could notice that it was empty. He had so far managed not to notice how several couples had asked to be reseated when they all had sat down or how the waiters played rock, paper, scissors, to see who had to come over to serve them. "Baby, I'm just worried about you, we finally found you again; we want to know you, know about your life."

Laughing at how determined Hector was to know about her and Alec, Max decided she would tell him that much truthfully at least, because there always had been Manticore, and she wasn't sure how long it would take her to be ready to tell them about that part of her life. So there were some things she could be open about at least, "Alec, he's a pain in the ass, but really nice at heart. You two just caught him really by surprise. But I guess I'm a tad biased anymore because we are… dating, I guess. We've known each other for about a year and… before that, I knew his brother, before you guys actually."

Diane smiled quickly in reassurance, she was happy that Max was telling them about her life, even if it wasn't exactly the words she would have preferred to hear. Married, known each other for years, and incredibly nice, kind and sweet, would have been Diane's ideal. But things were what they were and Hector would make sure that this Alec character was who he was supposed to be. In the mean time that wasn't even the start of her worries. "And… your seizures, do you still take your medicine, or have you grown out of them?"

"My seizures," Max paused, memories of Diane and Hector holding her through seizures when she was younger meshed with more recent memories of Alec holding her for the few times hers still came. Manticore hadn't quite finished de-seizuring her when she had escaped so there were still a few rare ones, but they weren't as bad anymore. She settled for half the truth, "They're pretty much gone now, under control. But yeah, I still take my medicine when they happen."

Hector let a part of himself relax for the first time since Max had run away. For months he had lived in fear that something had happened to her, especially with her seizures, and now his biggest fear was gone. However, suddenly Max looked pretty pale and she still hadn't finished her food. "Look, baby, why don't you go home and catch up on your sleep, you seem tired. We'll wrap up lunch, and why don't we take you out for dinner tonight? Your friend and Alec could come."

Max couldn't help but smile gratefully, this whole lunch was one bad Manticore memory to the next and she didn't like associating that with her foster parents, she never had. They had been good to her, and still were kind people. It wasn't their fault she was so messed up. "Dinner?" She thought through her schedule quickly, "Yeah, that sounds good. You guys could come over maybe? I'll attempt pasta."

She sounded so excited that Diane didn't have the heart to say no - even at fifteen, Max had never shown any signs of being able to cook. However, improvement was always possible, and at the very least, Diane hoped Max's friend or boyfriend could cook. "Sounds lovely, Maxine, we can talk more then."

Turning around quickly and sniffing, Original Cindy spotted the source of the foul smell and hurried over to the stove, turning off the burner. She looked at the contents of the pot apprehensively, "Uh, Boo, what was in the pot?"

From the other room where she was cleaning and checking for anything that would be a transgenic-tip-off, Max called back to her roommate, "Pasta… why, is it done?"

Alec and Max both poked their heads inside the general area of the kitchen in order to see both what had been the smell and the results of Max's pasta attempt. Original Cindy held up the pot gingerly, trying not to spill any of the yellowish goop that was in it. "OC thinks you may have left it on a tad long, Boo."

Staring at the pot of what certainly did not resemble pasta, Max sat down on the floor and sniffled slightly. "GOD, what is wrong with me! Why can't I even cook something as simple as pasta?" There was a slight edge of panic to her voice as the Esquleeni's were due to arrive soon.

Suppressing the snicker that desperately wanted to escape at the sight of the latest experiment that was Max's cooking skills, Alec motioned to Original Cindy to toss it and looked down at where Max was sitting on the floor. Dropping down next to her, Alec wrapped Max in a quick hug before jumping back to his feet, pulling her with him. "It's okay, Maxie, OC and I have a backup plan all ready."

"Backup plan, that's…" She paused just on the verge of saying 'great' and changed her mind. Sounding almost angry, Max insisted, "You guys had a backup plan? What, don't you have any faith in me?"

Halfway to the garbage, Original Cindy turned back and lifted the pot once again to show her friend the disaster it was. After Max had looked for a second, Original Cindy proceeded to the trash and dumped the contents of the pot. "Case and point, Boo," then she headed over to the refrigerator to pull out the lasagna she had made the night before.

"Look on the bright side," Alec couldn't help teasing Max slightly in the hopes that she would cheer up. He was a little nervous, more so than he had ever been with Manticore drills and routine inspections. No, no, this was far worse. And Alec was definitely not going through with the dinner plan if Max was going to be pissy. "You can hotwire cars, take out government agents, and you have your own transgenic club. Who cares about pasta?"

Sniffling once more just because, Max spontaneously turned and yanked Alec into a quick kiss. When she finally pulled away and noted the dazed and confused expression on his face, Max actually attempted to explain the shift in her mood. "That was so sweet!"

From her spot in the kitchen, Original Cindy just rolled her eyes at the two, having long since grown used to their strange exclamations and random make out sessions. She waited almost patiently until they returned to reality before announcing, "Ya'll might want to take a rain check on getting a room until after Max's 'rents leave."

Alec was just about to tell Original Cindy exactly where she could shove that particular idea, when there was a loud knock on the door. He jumped away from Max as though he had been stung and retreated to join his friend in the kitchen, while Max ran nervous hands over her outfit before racing towards the door. Original Cindy just nodded at the sulking Alec and sighed, "OC won't even comment."

Swinging the door wide, Max greeted the expected party with hesitant smiles. She was engulfed in a quick bear hug from Hector and received a large smile from Diane. Extracting herself from the hug carefully, Max motioned towards the kitchen. "Diane, Hector, you remember Original Cindy and Alec, right? Dinner's just about ready…"

Hector smiled slightly at Original Cindy then glared at Alec as he took the seat Max was motioning to at the table. Diane simply nodded quickly before sitting down next to her husband and taking the time to look around the apartment. "Yes, Maxine, we remember your friends, thank you."

The second both parental eyes were off of them, Original Cindy and Alec became involved in a silent argument. The lasagna was done, and it was time to take the main dish out to the table. Original Cindy gave Alec a look that plainly said 'I cooked, you serve,' but Alec kept motioning frantically towards Max's former foster parents then to his neck in a 'they'll kill me' gesture. Catching all this out of the corner of her eye, Max sent a glare Alec's way and he promptly sighed and took the hot dish from a grinning Original Cindy. "And dinner is served…"

He immediately regretted speaking because Hector and Diane looked up sharply at the sound of his voice and didn't so much as blink until he'd sat down the food and turned back to the kitchen to grab glasses. Max cleared her throat loudly to try to break the death threats buzzing around the room, "So, uh, what do you guys want to drink? We're kind of milk people, but there's other stuff…" she looked towards her best friend for help.

Before Original Cindy could elaborate on the 'other stuff' that they had, Hector replied shortly, "Just water for me," and Diane nodded that water was all she wanted as well. Original Cindy just shrugged and closed her half-opened mouth.

Alec grabbed the five glasses and poured milk into two of them, water into another two, and a strange looking pinkish drink into the last. He carefully collected the two glasses of milk and the pink drink and turned back to the table, as Original Cindy grabbed the two waters with only a brief snort of laughter.

All the drinks were set down and everyone was seated - Alec was only slightly uncomfortable from his position between Max and Original Cindy because it placed him directly across the table from Hector. Everyone took a brief moment to load their plates with food and settle down for their meals, but the silence was a little much. Original Cindy quickly asked, "So, Original Cindy hears that you two have been looking for our Max for quite a while, huh?"

Without her voice level changing in the slightest, Diane casually replied, "Every day since she left," then paused to take a sip of her water before adding, as an afterthought, "Maxine is a very hard girl to find," she remained oblivious to the uncomfortable looks passed between the three friends.

However, Hector was neither too distracted nor too calm to not notice the look that was exchanged. His lack of calmness was increased greatly when he noticed Alec catch Max's hand in his own and both of them smile. Before the dinner could get further off track, he abruptly asked, "So, how did you two get together?"

The two transgenics exchanged startled looks at the abrupt subject change, jumping imperceptibly and letting go of one another's hands. It was Alec who answered, "Well, actually, we've all been getting a lot of attention recently, from the news, for… things, hence the not being easy to find. So we were hi-hanging out with friends and one day Max just leans over and is all," he paused, trying to think of something appropriate to say.

Cutting in so smoothly that it was impossible to tell that Alec had been interrupted, Max continued, "I told him that I'd liked him for a long time, and he had better like me back because otherwise he'd have to out run me. So, the jackass ran."

"Well," Alec laughed, "I had to see if she was serious about the hunting me down part. I did let Max catch me as soon as I knew she was following me, and…" he winked at Max, which didn't go entirely unnoticed, "we've lived happily ever after since. The end."

From her position between Alec and Hector, Original Cindy was desperately trying to suppress a laugh. Between the jerky movements of her friends which she knew meant surprise and nervousness, and the veins that kept spontaneously throbbing on Hector's neck and forehead, Original Cindy was near hysterics. She decided to take pity on all present, distracting the parental units very effectively, "Diane, OC can't help but notice what lovely hands you have. You wouldn't be willing to share the secret, would you? Max has got to be the least girly roommate OC could ever manage to live with."

Although grateful for the intrusion into the many ways that conversation could have gone wrong, Max still took some offense to this statement, issued so easily. "I am too girly, just not all the time," her slight pout was enough to make anyone who knew her want to laugh and hug her at the same time.

While Original Cindy and Alec refrained from doing just that and Hector grudgingly let go of his line of questioning with a mental note to bring it all back up later, Diane grinned widely and replied to Original Cindy's previous comment. "Moisture is key, Cindy dear, but then I doubt I need to tell you that, you appear to be taking excellent care of your hands."

Everyone breathed collective mental sighs of relief as the conversation turned to more trivial and upbeat tracks, allowing people go back to eating and the dinner to progress smoothly. But as Diane and Hector exchanged slight nods accompanied by a look towards Alec it appeared that his fate was sealed, and he knew it. Alec could feel the minutes ticking down to the inevitable parental questioning of his person, and he just desperately hoped that they wouldn't find any of his less-than-pleasant past out.

"Well, as fun as this get together with ya'll has been, OC's got to book it…" the woman quickly swept her chair back and rose to a standing position, starting towards the door of the apartment and ignoring the looks being tossed her way.

From the kitchen where they were just depositing the last of the dishes, first Max then Alec sent death-glares to their friend in perfectly timed turn, but Original Cindy wasn't even looking their way. Noting privately that Original Cindy had done more than the call of duty in saving them tonight; the transgenics sighed and turned back to the dishes, muttering, "Bye."

Sitting on the couch, Diane and Hector were more vocal about the leaving of the nice young woman. Moving to stand up, then changing her mind as Original Cindy stopped by the door to patiently wait for them to acknowledge her exit from the apartment, Diane settled back down on the couch and called out, "Goodbye Cindy, it was wonderful talking with you tonight."

Still sitting there, Hector nodded towards Original Cindy and smiled warmly, having come to respect her obvious loyalty to her friends during their dinner together. Plus he had always enjoyed friendly people, and the people he'd encountered couldn't get much friendlier than Max's roommate. "Bye, Cindy, have fun…" he trailed off slightly.

Nodding quickly, and casting a reassuring glance towards her friends, Original Cindy smiled, "Bye guys. And don't you worry, Hector, Original Cindy's gonna have a blast… OC's got a date and she ain't about to keep her waiting!" Without waiting for further comments that would surely delay her date, Original Cindy smiled one last time and slipped out the door.

No sooner had the door shut than an overwhelming silence settled over the room as the four remaining occupants glanced from one to another. The first to break it was Alec, seeing his opportunity and jumping for it. "Well, now that dinner's done, I probably should head back to my place… Work tomorrow and what not."

Nodding slightly, Max accepted Alec's attempt and waited to see if it would work. Alec was halfway to the door, jacket already in hand, when Hector's booming voice stopped him from across the room. "Wait a minute, there. I'll walk you out."

About to protest, Alec thought better of it and admitted his defeat by the parental units. Shrugging and suppressing half a laugh at Alec's glum-but-hiding-it look, Max nodded again, "See you later, Alec… Hector, hurry back, I heard OC mention something about desert in the fridge. You know how good my cooking is," her laugh was a little strained but passable.

Gruffly, Hector grumbled his reply as Alec dutifully walked out with him. Max shrugged, figuring that she'd tried her best to spare Alec some parental questioning, and knowing that he could hold his own. Now her main thought was that she was alone with Diane, for the first time in what had probably been emotional lifetimes.

"So," Diane fiddled with her hands, not having the slightest idea of where to start, wondering where to begin.

And Max suddenly had a vision of all the questions that she still wasn't ready to answer. Cuts in quickly, "You and Hector, you've done well, it seems."

With a small smile, Diane nodded, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Yes, mostly." Leaning forward, eyes intense, "You seem to have settled in nicely. Good friends, boyfriend, job. We finally found you and you probably don't need us at all."

"No, that's not true," Max sighed, coming to sit nearer Diane and attempt to bridge that ever-complicated emotional gap between her and the rest of the non-transgenic world. "It's just, it's gonna take me a while to get used to having family again."

Diane smiled politely, patting Max awkwardly on the hand and trying to be reassuring that it was okay. "So..." back to square one again, there was so much to ask that it was hard to think of anything without coming up with everything all at once, "any plans for marriage?"

Max choked on her milk.

Alec was being backed into a corner, and he was smart enough to know it, even if he couldn't figure out any appropriate escape maneuvers. He figured Max would be really angry if he just knocked out her Foster-dad and made a run for it. Though, the option was gaining appeal. "Max is perfectly capable of taking care of herself…"

Hector didn't look appeased, "Of course she can. Let's just say that I'm aware of how... threatening... a young woman appears, and I'm here to back it up, so to speak."

Alec had to forcibly hold in the eye-roll that statement was begging for. Hector didn't know the half of it - Max was pretty damn threatening and he was much more concerned with her than with some aging Ordinary. 'Hell.' "I assure you, it's really not necessary."

Since apparently everything Alec said only served to further irritate Hector's long-dormant protective streak, Alec wasn't winning any favors. "Max is a very special girl…"

All Alec could do was nod, wondering how badly it would warp Hector to know the truth of the matter. He blinked, realizing that the man was still speaking.

"…And that's why I was wondering your intentions. Have you given any thought to marriage?"

Alec swore that he could feel his heart stop. 'What the fuck?' Furiously, he attempted to back peddle, "I think it's a little early in our relationship, sir. After all, I just met you this morning." He could hear Max mentally 'smart alec'ing him.

Hector didn't seem to find Alec amusing. But, he did switch his line of questioning. "And what about your family. Do I get the pleasure of meeting them?"

"They died in a fire." Which was partially true, Alec reasoned.

"Siblings?"

"None living."

"Job?"

"Jam Pony, I believe you knew that."

"Before then?"

"Military training."

"What branch?"

"Special ops."

"And you just left?"

"My branch was… closed…"

Just when Alec was getting bored, running his designation through his head and about to ask if Hector had done any military training himself, Hector paused. The two men stared at each other for a minute, both equally skeptical.

Alec was fairly proud of himself for the lack of outright lies. Generally, he liked to invent outrageous past events for himself, but he'd figured Max wouldn't appreciate his circus cousin and sky diving exploits. Maybe she was right and he'd been watching too much pre-pulse TV.

Then he noticed a rather unpleasant grin spreading over Hector's face and knew he wasn't going to like whatever next came out of the man's mouth.

"Well, you see, Alec, I'm not entirely a novice to the game. I did some checking on you and what I found was quite interesting…"

"… MAX…"

When Max finally got the story out of Alec, while he hid safely behind her from the glowering Hector, she wasn't sure whether to be pissed or really pissed. Because it was such an Alec thing to have done, and she could hardly blame him for it, but all the same it looked a hell of a lot worse to Diane and Hector, since they didn't have any background for it.

Either way, Max was pretty sure that it forced her to come clean about Manticore, and she wasn't looking forward to the pleasure of it. 'How do you explain that you're a genetically engineered soldier? To the people who raised you?' "All right, enough."

The three other occupants of the room looked up at her, awaiting her decision.

Max sighed, glowering at Alec for good measure since, damnit, it was just like him to pull a stunt like this. "Diane, Hector, why don't we take a trip to visit my friend Logan, and I'll explain what I can." She turned and gave Alec a quick kiss because she knew he'd run off and do something even stupider if he thought she was mad at him. Kept her voice a whisper, "Just stay here. I'll be back."

With a groan, Alec sank down onto the couch, flipping on the TV as Max hurriedly ushered her foster parents out of the house, hoping that she wasn't going to be even more pissed after the obviously upcoming Manticore chat.

Not for the first time, as the door swung shut, he wished that transgenics didn't have such a high alcohol tolerance - he wouldn't mind getting drunk.

They were all of three blocks from Logan's, where there would be awkward silences and hard evidence, when a mob started to form up. They could have been wielding pitchforks for all it mattered. Max had been recognized by one of the large hordes of transgenic-hating lowlifes to occupy Seattle's nighttime streets.

Not the way Max preferred to come out to her foster parents.

"Freak!"

"Get off our streets!"

The mob was one step away from throwing rocks.

Diane and Hector were slightly petrified and horribly confused. While Hector tried to glare manfully at the approaching mob, Diane ventured, "What's going on?"

Noting that it was still to far to Logan's for her to be able to get them all out of there without any super-human displays, and taking careful stock of the weaponry or lack-there-of that the mob was toting, Max took a deep breath. "Diane, Hector, remember how I said I needed to tell you something?"

"Yes, honey, but now's not really the time," Hector and Diane were starting to look appalled by the display in front of them.

'Here goes,' "Try not to panic."

Before Diane and Hector could ask any clarifying questions, and before the mob could get too unruly, Max leapt forward.

Caught the closest two with hits to the stomach that left them doubled over and, hopefully, out of the fight. Jumped over the next four to scale the far wall, launching into a flip that brought her down on top of a big clump of three of them. Not the smartest or the fastest opponents she'd faced, but Max wanted this fight over before any of them could take a hand to Diane and Hector.

The next four went down in rapid succession, kick, high-kick, punch, and toss. The two remaining, having barely seen Max move as she downed their companions, took off running back to the dark alley they'd come from. The wounded that weren't unconscious quickly followed suit, only one trying for a rematch and earning a shattered kneecap for his trouble.

Taking a deep breath, more to calm her heart than from any exertion, Max turned to face her foster parents. "I know you guys always said I was special. Guess what? You were right."

Diane fainted.

When Max finally reentered her apartment, Alec had watched four hours of Jerry Springer and two hours of Family Feud. He shut off the TV and took in her weary appearance, "What happened?"

Rummaging in the fridge for a fresh glass of milk before sinking down on the couch next to Alec, Max just sighed. "I spent the last several hours at Logan's, explaining the finer details of Manticore and transgenics to Hector and Diane after an impromptu mobbing along the way."

"And?"

Max shook her head, offering a small smile, "Your missteps have vastly paled in comparison. Smart Alec."

Relieved to see that Max's sense of humor was more-or-less still intact, Alec mentally downgraded any concern he may have had over the fight. "Looks like you got to have all the fun."

"Mmm…"

Wiggling to make more room for Max on the couch, Alec lazily draped one arm around her. "What about Diane and Hector?"

Rolling her eyes, Max allowed, "They're pretty freaked out. No pun intended. They've decided to give it a few days and start out slowly."

"No marriage, then?"

For the second time in one night, Max almost choked on her milk. She looked up just in time to catch Alec's mischievous look. "Very funny." Abruptly, she stood, setting her empty milk glass on the table and moving to leave the room. "I was thinking that bed sounded nice, actually."

Alec was up nearly before Max had finished the sentence. "No hogging the covers this time. We have work tomorrow."

The End