DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Not yours, either…unless you're Cameron or Eglee.

A/N: Let me start by giving credit where credit is due:

The Black Dahlia is named randomly after the movie The Black Dahlia (with Josh Hartnett, I believe). Inside the Black Dahlia is inspired by Lady Heather's house in CSI. Alec's confinement scenes were inspired by a story I read a long time ago. Thanks to a glorified nanny (anon.) for reminding me where it came from. LJ Smith. I don't know if she's still in print, either. It's too bad.

A/N2: Now on with the rescue. One more chapter left, I think. Didn't I say that back then? Yeah, well, you know how it goes. The story just comes out of my fingers, and I really have no control over it. Also, sorry for the late update. It's the Holidays. My muse went on vacation.

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CHAPTER 9: Then and Now

"Hey, what kind of rescue is this anyway?" whined Alec, flinching slightly as a bullet ricocheted off the wall, sending debris flying his way.

Max glared at him. "You're complaining? My ass is on the line, and you're complaining?"

"No, no, no, not complaining, just…wondering out loud?" he amended sheepishly, as he kneeled up to return fire.

He heard the gurgle of surprised pain as his bullet found its mark. His lips twisted in a semi-satisfied smirk, knowing that he only had a couple of rounds to go.

Max glared heatedly at him, her black-lined eyes looked fiercer, and her blood-red lips looked fuller as she twisted them into a snarl. "I'll save you the trouble of wondering out loud next time you get in trouble, because I won't be there!" she snapped. Right at the heels of that comment, she spun out and shot another assailant's right arm, disabling him from operating his weapon.

"Maxie, c'mon, you don't mean that," he jibed playfully, even as he took a quick peek from behind the overturned mattress to assess their position.

"Don't I?" she countered through gritted teeth. He watched her as she released the mag and quickly glanced down at it. There was only one round left. Another one in the chamber. That left four more shots between the both of them.

They were completely screwed.

There was no way in hell 735 was gonna let them off easily. She was a conniving little bitch who enjoyed making others suffer. Especially others who made her look bad in front of the boss.

Alec settled back against his former bed and sighed heavily as a momentary lull between gunfire settled. No doubt their enemies were edging closer to the splintered door, trying to gain entrance into the small room.

"Max?" he asked tentatively.

She looked at him, her face pensive and drawn. "Yeah?"

"I'm glad you found me, too," he sighed, thinking back to that strangely intimate moment they had shared just before all hell had broken loose. "I'm glad you came."

"Even if I fucked up the Rescue Op?" she cocked a brow at him, her head angled curiously.

"You didn't fuck it up," he insisted. "I was just trying to lighten the mood."

They both ducked quickly as a few splinters came off the wood just over their heads. Gunfire had resumed. But there was nothing they could do at the moment but maintain their cover.

Max snorted gracelessly, her eyes roving over his torn condition. Alec's eyes met with hers, and there was a look there that she had never seen before. His hazel gaze held her with a mix of tenderness and sadness. There was nothing mocking or amused in those eyes, the way she was used to seeing them.

"Give me your gun. I'll cover you, and you can make a run for it." He whispered, his voice low and grave. "You can make it if you blur. Escape and Evade. I think after all these years of practice, you'd be damned good at it."

Max's lips parted in surprise. Then horror and anger crashed into her. "Are you completely insane?" she hissed angrily, unsure why her vision was suddenly tearful. "NO!"

He leaned forward and grabbed one shoulder with his large hand. His eyes looked tired and worried. "Max, it's the only way," he insisted vehemently. "We are not trapped, Max. I am. I'm a broken soldier. But you—you can save yourself."

"You don't know what you're asking of me…" she sobbed, tears spilling over and down her cheeks. "Alec, I can't."

"I can't let you be caught with me," he argued, his handsome face marred not only by bruises and scratches, but by a confused frown as well. "We don't know what they're capable of, what they'll do to you…" he broke off with a strange choked sound

Max felt her throat tighten so much that it was hard to even catch a breath. She was suddenly hurtled through time, her memories reliving with transgenic accuracy the same beautiful face, wordlessly asking her to save herself. Back then, it was a broken leg and Manticore. This time, it was a broken leg and some very bad guys.

Back then, she had run. She had saved herself. With Ben, the decision hadn't been an easy one, but she had made her choice. At that moment, she had truly felt like she had no other choice.

But now, looking into Alec's pleading face, Max knew that there was another choice. She could stay with him. They could fight together. To the fucking end, if they had to. She couldn't leave.

"Max, go. Now!" Alec shook her shoulder fiercely. He reached out for her gun, but she snatched it away from him. He gave her an angry, incredulous look. "Max, don't be stupid."

"Why is it stupid to want to stay with you?" she asked stubbornly. "What if I told you it'd be even more stupid of me to leave without you?" She carefully leaned to the side to return fire, expending all of her bullets and taking down two more men, not even caring where she shot them.

"There's only three now," she muttered.

"They could have back-up," he said, his distress for her evident in his eyes and face. "Max, just go."

"Why do you want me to leave so much, anyway?" she snapped, her concern for him fueling her anger.

"Because, dammit, Max, I don't want you to die!" he bit out in frustration, throwing one hand in the air.

"I'm not gonna," she replied flippantly, secretly pleased with his answer. At least he cared. Almost as much as she cared about him. The thought crept up at her like a caveman with a very big stick. It hit her so hard she was breathless from the realization.

She couldn't leave Alec because of only one reason: she loved him.

She gasped out loud, and he was instantly alert.

"What?" he demanded

She shook her head briskly. "Nothing…" she muttered. "It's quiet," she realized suddenly.

"Maybe they're regrouping."

"Maybe."

"We're screwed," he groaned. "Max, if you hadn't gone and wasted those two shots, you could've really made a run for it."

"They weren't wasted," she pointed out. "I took two of 'em out. Besides, I'm staying and that's final."

"Why?" he sighed in utter confusion.

Max eyed him evenly, careful to keep her new-found feelings out of her expression. "Why do you think I've spent the last few days looking for you? Why do you think I even bothered to go through all the trouble of dressing up like a walking BDSM doll? Why do you think I'm here?"

He shrugged expansively. "I don't know, Maxie, to beat me up? To remind me of how much of a screw-up I am? To profess your undying love and devotion?" he replied with deadpanned sarcasm.

Max had to turn her head away because he was right on all three points. Except for the professing part. She was fine with feeling the undying love and devotion—not so much with the professing. "Well, thanks to your incredible ability to fuck up, we're crouched behind a bullet-riddled bed, trapped in a room the size of a giant closet, with only two frickin' bullets left."

"Hence, my asking you to leave,"

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Has anyone ever told you how stubborn you are?"

She grimaced a him. "I stubbornly try not to listen,"

Alec shook his head incredulously, then closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the bed. He had never expected things to be this bad…he couldn't believe he was going to be the reason the woman he loved was going to die. Again.

There was a moral to this story. And if he ever got out of this alive, he was going to be a little more considerate of people who might go out of their way to save him. Like Max. Come to think of it, he wondered why she had gone out of her way to save him. It wasn't like he was top on her priority list…right?

He leaned forward cautiously. She was still alert, his gun now in her hands. The silence in the last two minutes was almost eerie, especially after the barrage of gunfire they had been subjected to earlier.

"Hey, Maxie," he called out.

"Hmm?" She seemed to be deep in thought.

"What if I told you, that before I die, I would like to kiss you first?"

She looked at him, startled at first, but he noticed a strange flush creep up her face, blooming over her cheeks, and even down the generous expanse of flesh at the top of her corset. "Wh—what?"

"I'd like to kiss you before I die," he murmured, feeling himself flush almost as much as she was.

"You're not dying," she pointed out.

"I could be," he countered evenly, leaning even closer to her.

She eyed him dangerously. With her silky black hair, dark eyes, full red lips, and the sleek, tight black outfit she was wearing, she reminded Alec of a dangerous black cat. "Do you want to die now?" she warned in a low rumble of a voice.

"If it means I get to kiss you, I don't mind," he said. He wasn't quite joking.

She had no counter for that. He leaned even closer forward, testing to see if she would lean back. She stayed exactly where she was. In fact, her eyes drooped just a little bit lower, focusing on his lips.

Suddenly, Alec really wouldn't have minded if someone had told him that he was about to die in the next two minutes. So long as he spent the next minute and fifty-nine seconds kissing those plump red lips of hers.

He leaned in, their lips only a breath apart, when suddenly, everything around them erupted into a fierce battle field of gunfire and explosions.

"What the hell?!?" he cried out in surprise. He reached out for his gun, realizing that it was already in Max's hands. She looked just as startled as he did, but also alert, the gun cocked and ready to fire.

There was a small explosion right outside their door, and Alec grabbed Max and pulled her against him tightly. He didn't care if the action tore stitches or moved fractured ribs.

A figure appeared out of the smoke and debris that filtered into the room. Max aimed the weapon at the silhouette, keeping the moving man in her sights.

"Hey, guys," called out Chase, his voice concerned, anxious. "You in here?"

"Chase!" Max called out, immediately putting the safety back on her weapon. "Over here!"

"I heard there was a damsel in distress," Chase ran towards them, picking his way through the debris and splinters that had scattered through the room. "I'm here to rescue you," he announced with his eyes on Alec, an amused grin on his face.

Alec scoffed loudly. Max rolled her eyes and scrambled out of Alec's arms quickly. She scanned behind Chase, assessing the damage. "Biggs?"

"Caught a bullet on the left shoulder, but he'll be alright," said Chase. "He's securing the prisoners." Then he eyed Alec carefully and whistled. "You're banged up pretty bad, buddy,"

"No? Really?" Alec drawled sarcastically.

"Kept waiting for you and Max to get your sorry asses out of the building so I could start the fireworks, but hell, you guys never came out," explained Chase, leaning down and hauling Alec to his one good leg. "Forced me and Biggs to re-evaluate our course of action."

"Not bad," grinned Alec, looking around at the damage his friends had done.

"Island's secure?" Max asked skeptically.

"Yep. It's not very big. No more than 1.6 clicks," explained Chase. He draped one of Alec's arms around his shoulder, and took on most of his weight. "For some kind of base of ops, this place didn't have much manpower."

"They had Brin…I mean, her clone," pointed out Max. "They must've relied on her to keep things secure…where is she anyway?"

"735 would be long gone by now," snorted Alec, as he hobbled along beside Chase. "She was never one for the teamwork and for sticking around for the long haul. She's all about self-preservation…which, in certain situations, is actually a good thing," he drawled indolently, his eyes resting on Max. But even as he said the words out loud, he couldn't help but feel just a little bit warm and fuzzy that she had actually stuck around.

Because only now did he realize that it might mean she cared about him. Even just a little bit. He glanced at Chase and grimaced. He was still slightly annoyed at how terrible his friend's timing was in the matters of rescuing.

"Yeah, she was always a good soldier—but she wasn't above running out on the Unit when the going got tough," agreed Chase, his voice thick with disdain.

"Brin wasn't like that," whispered Max, her eyes soft and sad. "She was loyal."

Chase grunted as he hauled Alec's weight with him. "Rumor had it, she was the one who tried to stop you from completing your mission of destroying the gene lab," pointed out Chase derisively.

Alec elbowed his friend in the ribs. This time, Chase groaned and almost dropped Alec. "What the fuck?" he hissed at his friend.

Alec nodded towards Max, who looked like a little girl who just found out that Santa Claus wasn't real. "She was my sister," she whispered with a heavy sigh. "But Manticore got to her. In the end, she was still loyal."

"Well, yeah. Guess I see your point," murmured Chase, and Alec nodded approvingly at his friend. They were trudging out of the burning building now, ash and smoke filling the large hallway that led to the main doors.

Max leaned down to pick up a weapon, the action causing Alec to remember just how she was dressed. He gulped painfully, as he finally allowed himself to take a really good look at her. Dressed in leather that looked like it had been painted on her, Max was a stunning vision. Literally a breath-taking vision.

Or maybe, that was all the adrenaline suddenly seeping out of his system. The morphine seemed to be wearing off, too. Oh, great, he thought with a painful grimace as his broken leg dragged behind him.

But before he could even open his mouth to complain, a small warm body was pressed against his other side, an arm snaking gently around his waist. "Shuttup," muttered Max, as she anchored him firmly to her.

He grinned widely. He was in pain, sure…but that didn't beat having an excuse to take most of his weight off of Chase and lean into Max more. The move allowed him a tantalizing view down her corset, and he inhaled the heady scent she wore. His friend smirked knowingly at Alec's tactics but didn't say anything. They hurried out of the building, only looking back once as it burned brightly in the dark night sky.

They made their way slowly, but surely, through the small path in the woods. Alec felt every jarring movement in his bones, but just gritted his teeth against the pain. His supporting leg was exhausted from all the hopping. His ribs hurt, his broken leg would probably never be set straight again, and his head was pounding. But he kept it all to himself. It was going to be all over soon.

They arrived at the water's edge, where a sleek yacht was docked. "Nice ride, guys," he commented. "You sure know how to pick a guy up in style."

"So now you compliment us on the rescue?" huffed Max.

"Oh, yeah, yeah," he said. "You had me at the explosives."

Max rolled her eyes at him as they continued on the wooden docks. Their footsteps echoed over the wood. Biggs greeted them from where he stood at the helm. "Ouch!" he cried out, seeing the state Alec was in.

"Shuttup, Biggs," growled Alec. "Looks worse than it really is."

"Suure," drawled Chase as he untangled himself from Alec, turning him over to Max completely. He climbed up onto the yacht and prepared to pull Alec up after him. Neither had a choice but to stand hugging each other, Max bent slightly backwards from Alec's full weight leaning up her front.

"This is nice," he whispered softly, and pressed himself more against her playfully.

"Alec, now is not the time to be so…you," she berated. "Put a lid on it!"

"It's the morphine talking," he whined.

"Nice try," she replied dryly. "I saw your face while we were walking here. Morphine's worn off by now."

Alec smiled sheepishly at her. "Well, it was worth a try. Normally, a guy gets to get up close and personal with his girlfriend, but I guess that doesn't apply to me."

Max stiffened, her eyes widening. "You knew?" she gasped, her tone tinged with guilt and horror.

Alec shrugged lightly. "Biggs found out from Logan when he was delivering some stuff to get Eyes Only set up again. He thought I should know that I had a girlfriend tucked away somewhere that even I didn't know about." There was no admonition in his tone, but there was an unspoken question.

"I…" Max tried to explain, but Chase was already motioning for them to come aboard.

"C'mon, you lovebirds, this ain't a romantic moonlit cruise," he called out. They hoisted Alec up the ship with little incident and deposited him lightly onto one of the cushioned chairs. He groaned out in pain, but otherwise remained quiet.

What would have Max said? That she was sorry? What would happen if he asked her to tell Logan the truth? Would he lose her completely? What if he just took the chance and let her continue pretending? Would she start to see him as more than just a shield from Logan? Why was he caught in the middle anyway? Why him?

Before he could confuse himself with any more unanswerable questions, Biggs jostled an older woman from the cabin. She stumbled forward, her sleek hair ruffled, her dress askew, revealing a tantalizing amount of skin.

"Remember, Faith," said Biggs, his voice cold and clipped. "This is a warning. You mess with ours, and we will fuck yours up beyond all recognition."

Faith? He remembered her name from the warehouse. "Wait!" he rasped tiredly. He eyed her coldly and angrily. "You know where the others are."

Faith twisted her red lips into an ugly sneer. But Biggs approached her, his step menacing. Despite the bloody shoulder, he didn't look any less intimidating. She cowered slightly before nodding.

"Take us to them."

Max glanced at Alec, startled. He met her gaze steadily. "I learned from this amazing chick that if I wanted to be a hero, I can't be half-assed about it. Figured I would pass on the wisdom to these two over here," he said with a small nod towards Biggs and Chase.

Max's lips quirked into a small smile, her eyes flickered then looked away from him. She put her hands on her hips. "What do ya say, guys?"

Biggs shrugged and Chase grinned. "Hey, beats doing the paperwork that's waiting for me at home."

"You heard them, Faith," said Max, slinking over towards the older woman. This time, Max didn't attempt to cower or pretend subjugation. This time, she exuded dominance and power. "Where are the others?" she purred.

Faith's eyes widened at the drastic change she saw in Max. When she still didn't answer after a moment, Max wrapped her hand around Faith's throat. "Don't make us wait…" she said. "We're not exactly the most patient bunch."

"You'll never get away with this," Faith whispered.

"Oh…is that what you think?" taunted Max. "Honey, we ain't a circus trick. This is what we do. And you know as well as I do that the only way out of this for you, is to do exactly what we say."

Max knew that she wouldn't really hurt Faith, but it felt good bluffing. She felt the fine trembling of fear that coursed through the woman. "I can take you there," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Good girl." She released Faith, and the woman slumped into a heap on the floor.

"Oh, and Faith," said Biggs, looming over the other woman. "Don't try anything funny. You know what we're capable of."

Then, grabbing blond older woman, Chase pulled her with him so they could set a course. Max looked back at the small island, a halo of yellow and gold over the horizon, the house still burning. She glanced at Alec, feeling proud, her heart swelling. He was one of the good guys after all, and she was glad he wasn't half-assed about it.

It made falling in love with him…well, all the more sweeter.

Not that he was ever going to know.

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A/N3: See, I was going to end it at this chapter, then I remembered that there was Angel, and all those other kids…loose ends that needed to be tied up. So, I guess there's a chapter (or two) more of the story. Darn…I thought I was home free.