Misconceptions
By Sinful Starlet
Disclaimer: Again, nothing connected to Dark Angel the tv show is mine. I'm just borrowing the characters for a while - I take no responsibility for their actions! J
Rating: I still don't really get how to do this but never mind! Most of it's nothing too serious but I'd probably say it was an R (at least in places!) - feel free to disagree with me!
Summary: What a difference a day makes! What happens when you figure out that you had everything backwards to begin with?!
Author's note: *Proudly standing on her soap box* - Yes, this is an unashamedly Max/Alec story! In fact, all the stories I've written so far for DA have been! Not deliberately actually! I do have a Zack story on the back burner, but I haven't been able to come up with any decent ideas for a Max/Logan story yet. If I ever do, I'll write it up, the spark just ain't there yet! So in the meantime, sit back and enjoy the salty goodness that is Alec! God bless ya Jensen Ackles! J
Story-wise, I don't want to say too much, 'cause you'll pick it up as you go along, but basically Max has a fairly traumatic day that causes her to re-think a few issues in her life, and most of those are related to Logan and Alec! I would like to point out though, that I know absolutely nothing about medical or hospital procedures, so if those parts are completely inaccurate, just don't say I didn't warn you!
Oh and one last thing. To everybody who reviewed my last fic - THANK YOU!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!
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Misconceptions
By Sinful Starlet
Introduction
'Love's a funny thing', OC thought, 'and not in the way Sketchy'd think', she added, smiling a little at her own private joke. For the first time she really hoped there wasn't some kind of higher power up there controlling all of their relationships, 'cause if there was' she thought again, 'he must have some warped sense of humour'! The last few days were the perfect example. At least as far as Max was concerned. She smiled at the memory of seeing her friend earlier that night. She was really happy - OC hadn't seen her smiling like that for years, and it was wonderful to see.
"Yo OC?", a voice asked, breaking through her silent reverie, "You with us?" "Sorry Sketch!", she smiled, "Just contemplating a few things". "Anything I can help you with?", he said, smiling hopefully. She had to laugh despite herself, "That's okay boy - nothing serious!" That seemed to satisfy him for the time being so he sat back, taking another gulp of his fourth beer for the night. OC cast her eyes round the club for a few seconds, 'she really should be here by now' she thought. Finally, she saw what she had been looking for and smiled, raising one eyebrow after a few seconds. "Damn girl!", she said, not realising she was speaking aloud, "don't you need to come up for air or something?" Sketchy caught her eye-line, turning round in his seat to see what all the fuss was about. "Oh!", he said, eventually catching sight of the couple sitting in a darkened corner and getting slightly too friendly for a public forum! "Well I guess that explains why she's late!"
part #1
This was definitely not Max's week. She stared out of the window for a few seconds, trying to regain her calm before she turned back to face the man she was arguing with. She had just come to see him to check that he was okay and now she was getting a scolding for it! "What are you talking about?", she said, turning round at last. "I was busy", she said, imitating his words, "this morning 'cause I was working". "And you just had to mix business with pleasure I suppose?", Logan bit back, deliberately trying to antagonise her. "Anytime you're planning on making sense, just let me know!", Max retorted sarcastically, turning on her heel and starting to walk towards the door.
"I stopped by your apartment this morning 'cause you weren't answering your pager, and when I got there I saw...I saw him leaving", Logan said, forcing her to stop dead in her tracks. 'Alec' she thought, sighing, 'cause no, her life wasn't too complicated right now! "I mean maybe I got it all wrong Max", Logan said, walking over to her, his voice a little calmer, "just tell me it's not true, that what I saw wasn't what I think it was". Max eventually turned round, but she still couldn't look him in the eye, "I...I can't do that", was all she could say.
She just stood there for a second, waiting for him to react, to just do anything, but all he did was laugh - a cruel, harsh laugh. "Well isn't that just dandy!", he snapped, all sign of friendship leaving his face. "Tell me Max, did they not teach you about monogamous relationships back at the lab?", he said, deliberately emphasising the word 'lab', "Or are you just genetically coded to jump into bed with the first male X5 you come across - I mean you two were supposed to be breeding partners right?!" It took all Max's energy not to slap him then - she knew he was hurt, but she couldn't believe he could be that harsh.
A single tear rolled down her cheek, but she quickly scrubbed it away, "That's not fair and you know it", she said at last, "we haven't had a relationship like that for me to be unfaithful to for a long time". It was quite a few moments before either of them spoke again, both too emotionally wired and angry to say anything that they wouldn't regret. It was Max who eventually broke the silence, "Look, I'm sorry Logan", she said, a little more calmly, "I really am, but you've got to accept that things are over between us". He didn't reply, just looked her in the eye, all the pain and confusion he felt coming out in that single look. "I gotta go", Max said, heading for the door, and this time she didn't turn back.
The tears came more rapidly as she reached the street and got onto her ninja. She knew they couldn't be together - not with the virus still hanging over both their heads. Why couldn't he understand that? She had been trying to pull back from him for a while, not wanting him to get hurt just by being with her. But he wasn't getting the message. She would admit that pretending to be with Alec of all people wasn't exactly the best cover story, but she had never expected him to get that angry. 'Well that was it now', she thought anyway, she'd be lucky if he ever spoke to her again, let alone saw her.
part #2
The next morning she banged her locker door shut at Jam Pony's HQ, ignoring Normal's muttered comments about the quality and mental stability of his staff. OC had slept in late that morning and Sketchy was already out on a run, so that left her no one to talk to at Jam Pony at that time. At least, that was the plan, but someone obviously had other ideas. "You okay Max?", a voice said, followed by Alec's face a few seconds later as he stuck his head round the lockers to see her. "Not peachy", she said, "but I'm okay". She tried to smile, but it wasn't really working. "Yeah I can tell!", Alec joked, but the look he got from Max told him that that was probably not the way to go this morning.
"Y'know I can go if it's Ben that's still upsetting you", he said more quietly, looking something that actually came close to sincere in Max's eyes. "No it's not that", she said, attempting to reassure him, "but I appreciate the gesture". "Just not now right?", Alec guessed, answered by Max's nod. "Alright, but if you do wanna talk or something", Alec said, sounding a little uncomfortable, Max thought, "you can always call me", he said, holding up his cell phone as evidence. Max nodded and he smiled once more before he made his way out on a run to sector nine.
Okay so now Alec was being Mr Kind and Considerate and Logan was being the pain in the ass - what the hell was up with the Universe today? "Wakey wakey boo!", OC said, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Come on - I need to get out of here before Normal sees me again - he's already riding my ass about being late again!" Max managed a smile and the two girls breezed out of there before Normal could get another word in.
* * *
A few hours later, OC was sitting in the locker area, sipping an iced tea and waiting for Max who was late back again. They were supposed to be meeting for lunch, but that run to sector three must have taken longer than she planned because she was already fifteen minutes late. Instead it was Alec that walked over to her, taking a drink of her tea when she offered it. "You waiting for Max?", he asked as he sat down. "As always!", OC joked, "She's just running a little late". "Right", Alec nodded, pausing a second before he asked, "Is she okay? She seemed a little out of it this morning"
OC hesitated a little before she spoke - this concern for Max was a little out of character for Alec. Not that he was a horrible person or something - it's just he was one of those males Cindy was able to identify as not exactly comfortable with their emotions. She had very little patience with these guys most of the time, mostly 'cause they seemed to spend most of their time messing up relationships of Max's. Except she wasn't exactly sure that was what was going on this time.
Of course, Max and Alec were always fighting, but there didn't seem to be anything to it. Now here was Alec displaying some real emotion - he was actually really concerned for Max and---'oh no!' OC thought, amazed that she hadn't seen it before. Now what the hell was Max gonna do? She was sure that she didn't know about it but still - that wasn't exactly gonna help her much now.
So she thought carefully before she spoke - Max had actually told her about the argument with Logan, but she hadn't actually mentioned why they were arguing, saying she would explain more later. Alec interpreted her hesitation to mean that she wasn't supposed to say anything, so he let her off the hook, "It's okay - I get it". "Thanks boo", OC said, smiling, "it's just she's having a few problems with a certain somebody", Alec knew exactly who she meant of course, "I don't even have the full story yet".
Alec nodded, quickly changing the subject as he saw Max approaching. He smiled at her as she came over to sit with Cindy and said he would see them at Crash later, leaving them to have their private talk. Max watched him go, figuring she was gonna have to say something to him sooner or later, just having no idea where to start. OC could see who she was watching, but she didn't say anything yet - correctly guessing that he was what Max and Logan were arguing about. She knew enough about the argument already to know that it was fairly serious, she just didn't know exactly how Alec fitted into it all.
AN. Okay there's the first part everybody! Woohoo! *a little embarrassed at her own over-excitement!* Anyway, I hope you like it so far - I know not a whole hell of a lot's happened so far, but trust me - I'm getting there! *SS*