A/N: DA belongs to Fox, Cameron and Eglee. No infringement intended.

Weird enough I had a lot of fun writing this. It's just a little experiment. It's written in first person and completely from Max's POV.

This story is set … ummm … guess??? Oh yes, let's make this a reader's challenge. LOL (insert "evil grin")

Okay, on with the story …

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Wrong Place, Wrong Time?

Someone like me can't afford being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But I am. I seriously am.

And this time the place is even wronger than wrong.

Admittedly I don't know exactly how I got there. How I got here. But it's too late now, and I've never been someone to juggle with "what ifs". Where is the sense in that anyway? I just have to deal with the consequences.

When I think about it, a very important person told me the same thing a few months ago, and yeah, he said "the universe is right on schedule" and "everything happens the way it's supposed to". I have no idea how - if he's really right. Honestly, there isn't a single thing I can find right about my current situation. Getting outta here in one piece would be right, sure. But since hope is for losers, and since I don't believe in miracles that's probably out of question.

Damn, that'll break his heart.

It'll splinter it into a billion tiny, sparkling pieces.

I'm surprised I'm so sure about that, after all our vehement "we-are-not-like-that"s.

The knowledge creates a lump in my throat - a huge, raspy lump, that expands to the size of a ball. Yes, one of those neon green things, covered with felt-like material – a tennis ball, and it's stuck right in my throat. That's the only reason why my eyes suddenly sting.

And I feel like I'm letting him down. Again.

But soldiers don't cry and emotions are nothing but weakness. … Damn, but I feel weak right now, incredibly weak. My mind is fuzzy and my thoughts are so … disjointed.

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Besides, it's not for the first time that I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time. The day we escaped, I fell through the ice.

It had been freezing cold for weeks. But when Jondy and I decided to cross the frozen lake to escape our pursuers, I had to hit this tiny part where the ice sheet was too thin to support my weight. And I fell.

I only survived because Lydecker had always pushed us so hard to get better. "What the mind can conceive, the body can achieve". Blah, blah, blah. Maybe the bastard was right, maybe he saved my life.

But how twisted is that?

And how twisted would it have been, had I died this day? I've always been great at "Escape and Evade". Actually, I was possibly the best - one of Lydecker's model soldiers, pah. And this one time, when it was all or nothing, I failed, beaten by nature's anomalies. Ironic, huh?

But I dealt. I stayed hidden beneath ice and snow in the icy cold water. I outperformed my own record, keeping my breath for more than five minutes, and I let every resistance test result that's ever been achieved at Manticore look pathetic. Lydecker would probably be proud if he knew, but he doesn't. And I'd like to keep it that way more than anything in the world.

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Just the thought of having to face the Colonel again gives me the creeps and the damn neon green ball is instantly back in my throat again. I have to choke, feel like I'm drowning.

Counting up to twenty helps. My thoughts become more coherent again. A bit of the fuzziness vanishes. I feel that my pulse is steadier, stronger.

I'm not sure, it's the right thing to do, but I finally find the strength to open my eyes. I crack my eyelids open and squint through narrow slits, not willing to give away my status. My head hurts, and a wave of nausea tumbles through my battered body when reality hits me like a brick wall.

THIS is really happening.

It's not one of those ever perseverative nightmares. It's not one of those gloomy-gray flashbacks, triggered by one of my seizures. IT IS REAL.

And suddenly, the only thing that keeps me from crumbling is the knowledge that I saved HIM.

Yes, it was really worth it. No matter what.

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I manage to catch a glimpse of the outside world that flashes by. It's the typical picture of filth, graffiti and decay and ironically above all – a deep blue sky, azure blue, like in one of those holiday advertisements that are still popping up on TV now and then, although nobody can afford a trip to the Caribbean.

The glistening sun is taunting me. It's not supposed to shine today. This is just not fair. But hey, life ain't fair anyway.

We are crossing Euclid Avenue at this very moment. And I wonder if I'll ever race through these streets again, if I'm ever going to deliver packages and complain about the Seattle drizzle. It's just 10 minutes to the Space Needle from here, I realize – to the high place, my refugee. But I feel like I'm worlds apart.

Damn it hurts. It hurts even more than I ever imagined.

And I have to remind myself again that it's worth it. He would've died without me. And I'm not sure I could have lived with that knowledge. So this time I came back for HIM, despite knowing what a dangerous risk it was.

Would I have acted differently if I had known what I was getting myself into?

The car stops and I try to keep my heartbeat steady. I sit completely still and comb through the deepest core of my being, searching for an answer, an honest answer. But finding a couple of black SUVs parked conspicuously close to the building doesn't make my decision easier, not one bit.

I said just a few weeks ago that I'd rather die than go back there, but still, I can't feel the slightest bit of regret for having saved him. Maybe there would've been a better way, maybe I could've avoided being spotted and caught. But every fiber of my genetically engineered body tells me that I did the right thing.

And finally I realize that in fact I've been in the right place at the right time.

The End.

It's easy, huh? Anyway, please drop a review!