Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel, so don't sue me!

This is a short AU fic in which Max died after the last battle against the familiars. English is not my native language, so please don't mind any grammar or spelling mistakes.

This also is my very first DA fanfiction, so please leave me a review!

The promise

When I was a child, I lived in hell. There, I was trained to be the perfect soldier, the perfect assassin, the perfect leader. I succeeded in all, I was the best of the best, but I was denied my humanity.

Then, there were you. The first time I laid my eyes on you I thought you were an angel. And you were, because you freed me from hell and gave me my freedom.

I followed you, reluctant to leave the beautiful angel that brought me so much luck. You put up with me showed me how real life could be. You were the one who gave me my humanity back; you even established a conscience in me.

Yes, you were my angel even though one with a mouthy attitude that kept bitching at me. I never once left your side, did everything you asked me to and more.

I could do nothing less, I loved you.

When the war started I stood by you, helped you to organise the resistance of our people, helped you to overcome your fear of yourself.

I was there for you when you finally let go of the lie your life had been, when you finally allowed yourself to be the wonderful transgenic creature you were.

I saw your worries when we found out about you being the saviour. Hell, I was perhaps the only person that was not surprised by it. After all, I knew you were an angel, better than anyone else was on this world.

I fought by your side in the last battle that saw our victory. I protected you more then once on that day.

And I hold your hand when you lay dying in an old church. Dying to save us all. I saw your tears, wiped them away gently, heard your whispered words, your last request.

You asked me to look after our people, to fight our war till the end, till victory. You asked me to make sure that other Transgenics could live a normal life in peace, at least at TC.

I hesitated; knowing I wouldn't have the strength to continue after you were gone, but then you said those particular words, the only words that had the power to make me make that fateful promise.

You told me you loved me, that you would always love me. You told me you would wait for me in the Good Place, waiting for all eternity.

So I promised you to be the strong leader our people needed.

You gave me a last beautiful smile before you closed your eyes to the world forever.

Now I am the general I was raised to be, cold and determined. I care for our people, but I don't care for life itself anymore.

How am I supposed to live without my heart? If it weren't for my promise I would have died a long time ago. Instead I fight for our cause.

I know in the end I will be with you again. I know you will keep your promise as well.

It's just that I am afraid. I don't know about the Good Place, you never told me about it. But I know about heaven and that's the place where angels like you go to when they die.

I am a soldier, a cold-blooded killer. My hands are red with the blood of too many enemies. People like me don't go to heaven, we go to hell when we die.

Still there is some tiny spark of hope left in me that insists upon you being my personal angel and that part knows without any doubt that you will rescue me even from hell.