A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed! There's just one more chapter to go after this one!

Chapter 21

Max awoke to a slight movement and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly before she groaned and lifted her head from where it was still stationed on Alec's arm. She looked around the room trying to figure out who woke her up when she felt the movement again, and this time she was able to pinpoint it as coming from beneath her.

Her gaze flew to Alec's face and she choked out a sob when she saw him looking back at her, his beautiful hazel green eyes aware and filled with life. "Hey Maxie," he whispered, his voice rough and barely audible from lack of use.

She laughed and swooped down to kiss him. She didn't let go for a long time and when she finally raised her head again it was just far enough so that she could look in his eyes as she whispered back. "Hey baby." Then she was kissing him again. A throat cleared from the doorway and Max broke away to look over at the intruder. It was Heath and Max swore she saw a smile playing on the stoic medic's lips as he caught Alec's eye.

"Hey doc," Alec greeted, his voice gaining a bit more volume. Max quickly reached for some water and handed it to him, he smiled gratefully at her.

"Good to see you awake, Alec," Heath replied.

"How long was I down?" Alec asked after he'd taken a few sips of water.

Max was the one to answer. "White had you for five days. You've been back for fifteen."

Alec let out a low grunt. "Shit," he managed to ground out. "White's dead?" he asked, the last memory of Leeana's popping into his head.

"Yes. So is 621," Heath spoke up as he came around to do a checkup on his patient and get him unhooked from everything that he'd been connected to the last two weeks. "Your catatonic state was excellent for your body's recovery."

"Well gee, that's what I was going for," Alec piped up sarcastically.

Heath cut his eyes up to him with a glare that didn't have any heat to it. "Meaning that you can go home as soon as you feel up to it."

"Really, already?" Max asked in surprise.

"Already? He's been here for fifteen days," Heath replied in exasperation.

"And he's been awake for fifteen minutes!" she pointed out. "What if he has head trauma or brain damage!"

"Hey!" Alec took offense.

Heath let out an almost unheard of laugh. "Alec's brain has been damaged since long before you met him," he retorted.

"Hey!" Alec yelled again.

Heath threw him a smirk before turning serious again. "The only reason Alec was in that state was because he put himself there. There wasn't a physical reason behind it," he told Max before turning to address Alec. "With all the trauma you've survived during your years in Psy-Ops I have serious doubts that five days with White and 621 could have done any lasting damage."

Alec grinned a bit at that. "You heard the man, Maxie. Let's blow this joint."

Max sighed but couldn't keep the smile hidden as she nodded to Heath, giving him permission to begin unhooking the various tubes and monitors that had been attached to him before helping Alec stand up. The X5 was a bit shaky on his unused legs. Max immediately went to his other side and helped support him as he slowly found his footing and stretched before he started slowly dawning on the clothes that she'd brought in for him weeks ago.

~DA~

Zane was exhausted and in a pissy mood as he sat down with Mole, Syl, Krit and Zack and Joshua to plan out the next day's agenda. Max had been asleep when he'd stopped by the infirmary this morning and he'd made the executive decision to let her sleep, she had barely gotten any of the little sleep her DNA normally allowed her to get since Alec had initially disappeared nearly three weeks ago.

He glanced up in irritation when the doors to command were shoved open but all his irritation flew the coop at the sight that greeted him when he looked down below him.

Syl, Mole, Krit and Joshua were hot on his heels as they blurred down the stairs and stopped just before his sister and her risen from the practically dead boyfriend. No one noticed when Zack snuck out in the chaos. "It's about damn time, man. I've had to take on your entire workload while you've been on vacation," Zane said in a mock grumble.

"Sorry bro, just needed to rest my feet for a bit. You know how it is," Alec replied flippantly and Zane's grin grew before he pulled his (practically) brother-in-law in for a manly bear hug. It soon turned into a group hug as Krit and Syl joined in before Joshua mashed them all together and nearly lifted them up off the ground.

"I ain't gettin' in the middle of that," Mole grumbled in disgust as he surreptitiously wiped something that was most definitely not a tear from beneath his eye.

"You guys are gonna suffocate him," Max complained and they slowly let Alec go as she came up and tucked into his side.

"How are you feeling, little brother?" Syl asked with a wide smile on her face.

Alec brought a hand up to his neck and looked somewhat sheepish as he replied. "Tired, believe it or not."

Syl laughed. "I believe it, from the sounds of it you weren't exactly resting peacefully the last couple of weeks.

"That's probably our cue to go," Max said with a small laugh. Alec had insisted on swinging by HQ but, selfishly, all she wanted to do was to get him home. The apartment has been miserable without him.

"We're good here," Krit told them with a knowing grin.

"We don't want to see your ugly mugs until tomorrow," Mole added, a slight smirk peeking out behind his cigar.

~DA~

Alec leaned back against the door as it closed behind them, they had been stopped by just about the entire town on the short trip from HQ to their building. Word had spread quickly that Alec was awake and everyone wanted the chance to see for themselves that he was back.

"Hey," Max said gently as she put her hands on either side of his face. His eyes fluttered back open and he smiled down at her. He owed Leeana a lot, without her he may have never remembered the woman standing before him now. "Where'd you go?" she asked him, taking his hand and leading him to the couch.

"Just thinking about how much I owe Leeana for convincing me to remember you," he told her honestly before ducking down for a kiss.

"We both owe her a lot. There's something I started to think I'd never get the chance to tell you and I don't know if I could have lived with myself, I'm not as good at showing how I feel as you are and I'm also not good at talking about how I feel but I need you to know." Max said quietly as they broke apart. Alec cocked his head at her serious tone and solemn expression, waiting to hear what she had to say. Max sucked in a deep breath. "I love you," she blurted out.

Alec couldn't keep the wide grin off his face and wasn't able to stop the chuckle that escaped his lips. He hurried to explain himself at her affronted expression. "Max, If I had died I would have done so knowing that you loved me. Just like if you died before ever hearing me say those words you'd know that I loved you, right?" he asked her gently, his smile softening as he reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yes," she whispered.

"You show me you love me every time you look at me Max. Even when your so pissed at me that steam is practically coming out of your ears. I've never seen you look at anyone the way you look at me," he confided in her. Touchy-feely wasn't usually their thing but after the last month of near misses he figured they could make an exception. "And just for the record, I love you too Maxie," he finished quietly.

Max couldn't speak, she didn't know what she could possibly say that would top that speech so instead she surged forward and caught his lips before melting into him.

They stayed like that for a long time until Alec finally broke away, "What do you say we pick this up after I take a shower?"

"I'd say we could both use one," Max replied saucily as she stood, pulling him up with her and leading him into the bathroom.

~DA~

Morning had gone and afternoon had arrived to find Alec and Max curled up with each other in their bed. Alec had fallen asleep almost as soon as they were finished showing each other just how much love they had to give and Max had taken to watching him. The gentle rise and fall of his chest, that slight twitches he made as he dreamed, the way his eyes danced back and forth behind their lids. She had almost lost all that.

She isn't sure how long she'd been keeping watch over him before he started to stir and when those mischievous eyes opened again he shot her a sleepy smirk and kissed her hello.

Alec cleared his throat and she could tell that something was weighing on him. "Max," he asked hesitantly. "What do you know about my capture?"

Max propped herself up on her arm as she looked down at him with a small frown. "You were at a meet with your food contact who sold you out to White to secure the safety of his family. You were pinned down but Zack was able to get to the van and he left you there after, he claims, you told him to. It took us five days to figure out where White took you...Zack was the one who figured it out after he heard that the men who grabbed you were covered in soot."

Max watched his face as she spoke, his eyes darkening with anger whenever Zack's name was mentioned and the churning feeling she'd had in her gut whenever she thought back to Zack's version of events over the last few weeks came back at full speed. "What really happened?" she asked softly, afraid of the answer.

Alec stayed quiet for a long moment before he turned his head away from her, unable to stomach the look of betrayal he knew she'd wear once he told her. "James did sell us out to keep his family safe, he warned me at the last second, told us to go. With the little lead time he gave us we should have both been able to get out of there. We would have, Max. We were pinned behind some crates but between the two of us fighting our way to the van was a reasonable goal. I covered Zack while he made a run for it but when it was his turn to cover me…" he trailed off.

"He did what?" She asked even though she was fairly certain she already knew the answer.

"He looked at me and I could see him thinking it through. Then he got in the van and drove away. He's fuckin' lucky I haven't seen him yet, Max," he told her, his tone deadly and she both didn't doubt him and didn't blame him.

"We've kept a close eye on him ever since he came back alone," she told him lowly. "When Syl, Krit and Zane were in my office before you two left they were telling me they were worried about Zack's feelings towards you...and towards me. They weren't sure that he would try anything but they also weren't sure that he wouldn't. I wanted to stop you from going together but it was all so last minute and...I shouldn't have doubted myself," she said ruefully.

"You tried to get me to switch partners and I insisted on keeping it the way it was, Maxie. You can't blame yourself for what he did."

"I didn't believe him when he came back. I told him that if I found out he was lying about what happened I'd kill him," she confessed in a choked whisper.

"Might have to wait in line baby," Alec replied only half joking.