Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me, but if your offering…? No? Okay then, they're all Cameron's etc.

Authors Note: Review or I wont write anymore!

DARK TERROR

Chapter 2 - Day to Day.

Alec looked at Max as she walked out of the bathroom. She was dressed now but the black cardigan she wore over the simple white vest was buttoned wrongly. Her eyes were blank and she just stopped outside the door. Alec sighed and stared at her for a moment. Max's hair was wet from the shower but lay tangled down her back. Brushing seemed to be a bit beyond her, Alec had been brushing it for her since he had realised the problem. Sometimes he even washed it for her, if it started to look like she wasn't caring for it properly. It would probably be easier for them both if he cut her, almost, waist long hair but Alec couldn't bring himself to do it. That would be like admitting this was a permanent thing and Max would never come out of the traumatised shell she was lost in.

"Hey." He spoke softly. Alec still talked to Max, always hoping that she would just respond like nothing had happened. As he walked over to her he studied her face carefully. There was no reaction. Alec took a handful of damp hair and pulled it back over her shoulders, off her face. That done he reached down and started to redo the buttons on her cardigan correctly. It was the little things that were most upsetting. These things that shocked him into remembering that the Max he knew was no longer present. For now at least. Alec wasn't about to give up on her.

"Its alright Max." He assured her as his fingers nimbly worked on the tiny buttons. "You just miss matched a few holes is all." Alec finished and offered Max a small smile. "There. All done." He waited a moment, the pause of silence deafening in her lack of response.

Alec sighed and gently took her elbow, he pulled her across the room to sit down in the beaten old armchair by the window. "Come on Maxie. Cant let you go out with your hair in a mess." Alec picked up the brush that was resting on the dresser and came back to where Max was still obediently seated.

Alec ran the brush slowly through her thick dark hair, carefully working out the tangles he came to with his fingers. It was so soft and silky beneath his callused hands that Alec drew out the process as long as he could just so he could enjoy the feel of her hair. Tactile sensation seemed to be the one thing that Max responded to. Whether it was him prompting her to eat or walk or simply stroking her face to calm her during her night terrors. Alec liked to think that maybe his touch was helping her heal somehow. He remembered reading in a medical journal, years ago, how sick people tend to get better faster if they have a lot of physical contact with others. How true this was in Max's case, Alec didn't know, but it did no harm and comforted him even if it didn't help Max any.

Her hair brushed, and shining in a sheet of dark silk, Alec couldn't delay the inevitable any longer. He put the brush down again and moved to kneel in front of Max. Alec picked up her small limp hands in his. They looked so tiny, with her long delicate fingers contrasting with his strong wide palms. Alec looked up at her face. Max's gaze was unfocused and staring at a distant point on the moth eaten carpet of the motel room. Alec squeezed her fingers lightly.

"Max?" Nothing. Alec bitterly smiled to himself, wondering when he would stop expecting the sharp sarcastic retorts that had been Max's speciality. What he wouldn't give to hear her threaten him with serious bodily harm right now. Alec reached up with one hand and held Max's chin, pulling her head up to face him. It probably made no difference to whether or not she heard him but having her face him made him feel like she did, despite her eyes that were still directed away.

"Max. I have to go out for a while. I need to get some cash so we can get out of here before - well, so that we can go when we need to." Alec had almost slipped and mentioned White. Since he had saved her, Alec had made a point of not mentioning anyone or anything related to the events that had ended so horrifically. He didn't know if it would do any more harm psychologically but it sure as hell wouldn't help. There was no response at all to anything Alec said, so he continued. "I'm going to leave you here alone for a few hours. Don't do anything or go anywhere, okay?" Alec cupped her thin cheek in his hand and stroked his thumb back and forward against her pale skin. It hurt the way her mocha brown eyes were empty of any emotion and the way her full lips were unnaturally still.

Alec released Max and stood up restraining another sigh. He looked around the room, his red rimmed eyes moving rapidly. He didn't want to leave Max alone, truth told he was terrified of leaving her here by herself. What if White comes? The thought was nearly enough to make Alec change his mind and stay. I cant though! Frustrated Alec stormed over to the front door, opening it before hesitating and looking at Max, still sitting lifelessly in the chair. It was risky for him to commit the robbery he had planned during the day but he couldn't do this at night. Max tended to get upset at night and he needed to be there to calm her before she hurt herself accidentally. Waiting to do this another day was just delaying the inevitable. They needed to move on before White caught up to them, the longer they stayed the more danger Max would be in.

Alec wished he could take Max with him on the job but it was impossible with the state she was in. He thought nostalgically of the time they had both tried to rob the same place at the same time, that baseball… Now he was on his own, he had his target and in this one job he would get enough cash to keep them going comfortably for the next couple of months. And if I get caught? That was one possibility that Alec refused to acknowledge. If he was caught then what would become of Max? White would find her. Alec had seen what White did to her, she would be better off dead then back in his hands.

Alec's hands clenched into fists. "I'll be back soon Max. I'll be back and then we're getting out of here." He tore his eyes from where Max sat and he walked out of the door, locking it securely behind him. Alec rested his forehead against the locked door for a few moments, his fear for Max overwhelming him for a minute. He forced himself to turn and face the littered dirty streets before him.

The air was cold and Alec shivered pulling his leather coat tightly around him. He was dressed in normal clothes, his typical black, breaking and entering outfit being a bit pointless given the broad daylight. The target was a drug dealer, Alec had numerous weapons stashed on his body and was planning to simply kill anyone who saw him. The last thing he needed was a drug syndicate after him. There should only be about 7 men around the place anyway. Alec breathed the frigid air deeply as he blanked his mind of Max. Focus on the mission. He instructed himself. Duty. Discipline. Mission. It flashed through his mind, remnants of his childhood. Words he now consciously rejected even as he used them to help clear himself of dangerous emotion.

Once he had himself under control, Alec started to walk. The game plan was clear. After the robbery was successfully completed he would return to home base, (the motel), collect Max and head for the bus station. They could eat while waiting for their bus. Didn't really matter which one they caught as long as it was headed out of town. Nodding to himself, Alec shut down his useless feeling and proceeded to initiate his mission.

TBC.