Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel; I'm not doing this for profit, yada yada yada

Author's Note 1: I don't know if there is a reply button or something that lets you reply to a review like email, if there is I can't find it. So I just wanted to say thank you to darkaznangel452, p3karen, chica de los ojos café, nickledime17, JoJo2753, Deirax, and Celtergirl. If you hadn't all responded so encouragingly I don't know if I would have had the courage to keep posting.

Author's Note 2: In case any of you were wondering, I will probably never write a scene with Max and Logan as a romantic pairing. I don't understand the appeal, when she had guys like Zack and Alec around, how did she even notice him?

Author's Note 3: Last one I swear. I just wanted to say that I don't have beta so if you spot any errors, please let me know. I'm not much of an editor.

GIRL

Since the destruction of Manticore, Alec had been watching Max. He was a human chameleon, able to bend in with the ordinaries but he needed an example, a template if you will. The way he figured it, Max had more experience blending in than anyone else he knew, so he watched her.

He watched her for long enough that it became a habit. Right up until he realized that he was falling in love with her. Then he did what any sane, commitment phobic male would do, he avoided her like the plague. It pissed him off that it didn't make the feelings go away. He tried logic. Max was in love with Logan he told himself, and she could barely stand him. She didn't see him when she looked at him, she saw Ben. He wished someone had told him that logic held no sway over emotions.

He eventually managed to accept that she'd never return his feelings. He was ok with it too, right up until the day that she told him she trusted him. It was harder to settle for friendship after that. They had been prepping to rescue some X-7's that White had managed to get a hold of.

"Alpha Team, enter through the south entrance. The control room is here, secure it and hack into the security cameras. You need to monitor Beta Team's progress, be ready to assist them if it looks like the Familiars are getting the upper hand." She said as they stood around the blueprints of the warehouse White was using to hold the kids. Logan had managed to dig them up somewhere but that was about all he'd managed to do to help. "Beta Team, give us 15 minutes before you set off the explosives. I'd rather use the time to get the kids out of there than look for them once you've got White's attention. Alec, you're with me. Any questions? Ok, let's go."

They moved swiftly and professionally when she commanded them to move out. Except for Alec, who was irritated with the assignment he'd been given.

"What's the matter Maxie? Afraid I'll screw up if you're not there to watch me?" He questioned snidly.

The look she'd given him then was full of genuine surprise. "No, I just trust you to have my back and I know that if things so sideway and something happens to me, you'll get the kids out." She replied, already moving toward their entry point. It was indisputable evidence that she did trust him, because she never doubted for a second that he'd be right behind her, close enough to hear her confession. And he was of course, falling just a little bit more in love with her each step of the way.

Manticore didn't design them to be chumps, which was the cause of his current dilemma. He loved Max, so he wanted her to be happy, even if it meant that she was with Logan. The problem with that was that Logan was hurting Max's ability to lead. Maybe it was the bits and pieces of animal that the scientists had spiked their DNA with but transgenics would only follow someone they view as an alpha. Logan's constant interference with Max's decisions and the way that she turned to him for help was making a lot of the residents of Terminal City doubt her alpha status. Only the fact that Alec, someone that many considered to be the Alpha Male, the top of the food chain, followed her, allowed her to continue to act as leader, but even that wasn't going to cut it much longer.

He'd considered trying to sit her down and explain it but somehow he knew it wouldn't do much good. It would just piss her off and make her run to Logan for comfort. In the end he'd gone to Original Cindy for advice. She didn't really have any to give but she did help him understand what it was that drew Max to the ordinary. What it boiled down to was that Logan made her feel like a girl. He treated her like a normal girl, wining and dining her but still trusting her to handle herself in dangerous situations.

Cindy believed that it was the only thing keeping them together. The fact that Logan, it least occasionally, made Max feel like the person she secretly wanted to be.

That revelation decided things for him. He loved Max. He needed to get Max away from Logan for the good of Terminal City. The way he saw it, he could kill two birds with one stone, he could woo Max for himself and once he had her affection he could help her get over her dependence on Logan. He just had to figure out how to do it, how to make her feel like a girl. He was genetically engineered to succeed. How hard could it be to do that and do it better than Logan?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know, I said I was done…sorry. I was thinking that it might be fun to write a companion piece to this about Alec's attempts to win Max over…thoughts?

HERO

They say that first impressions are lasting ones and as far as Alec goes that was true for a long time. My first impression told me that he was cocky, egotistical and self involved. And I guess in same ways he is, even now.

Since the siege on Terminal City began I've had to revise my opinions. A lot.

It started when I caught him giving away his share of the morning food rations to Gem. He caught me watching him, surprise clear on my face. "What?" he asked nonchalantly, "I'm not hungry." I might have bought it I hadn't heard his stomach growl. According to Gem, he'd been standing nearby when Doc had told her that she needed to make sure she was getting enough nutrients because she was breastfeeding Eve.

The next thing that caused my opinion to shift was a conversation I overheard. Arrow, an X-5 male, was complaining about how Alec had ignored an opportunity to score some alcohol on the last supply run in order to snag a crateful of school supplies for the younger x series.

After that I started paying closer attention and it wasn't long before I was telling Logan off for calling Alec a screw up.

And then Logan went and got captured by White and Alec did everything in his power to help me get him back, because he knew that Logan was important to me. He even got himself shot, throwing himself in front of Logan when White realized that we were going to succeed in taking him back. Shot and bleeding, he carried Logan to safety.

My impression of Alec changes almost as often as Alec himself does but there are two things now that I couldn't change if I wanted too. The first is that Alec is my mate; even Manticore had known we were made for each other; it had just taken me a little longer to figure it out than most. The second thing was that despite all his attempts at being a smart aleck jerk, deep down he had the heart of a hero.