Title: Concrete Angel

Author: natalie180

Rating: PG (may change – we'll see…)

Show: Dark Angel

Pairing: M/A

Type: wip

Summary: When someone new comes on the scene, how will she change Alec and

Max's lives?

Thanks again to my beta SpoiledLilAmy - you're my best fan J

Author's Note: When I wrote this my muse just happened to be with me. Usually I take a while to write though so don't get you're hopes up about super speedy updating.

Chapter Two

Alec took Marina to the only safe place he knew: Terminal City. So it wasn't a resort or a spa - hell, it barely had hot running water - but it was the place he called home. Alec hadn't wanted to go back to Terminal City so soon. Now he would be forced to confront Max, something he wasn't looking forward to doing. Truth was, he felt guilty and ashamed for blowing up at Max; while she had the uncanny ability to be stubborn, close minded and naïve, she didn't deserve to be yelled at. Alec just hopped that he hadn't ruined their friendship, which, as of late, was on the rocks.

"Hate to pull you from what I'm sure are really interesting thoughts, but we've been standing in front of this door for nearly five minutes now and you haven't moved. Are you ok?" Marina asked.

Alec looked around him. Sure enough, he was in Terminal City, stopped in front of his apartment. Apparently, his body had been on auto-pilot, and, while he had been lost in his thoughts, Alec had managed to get home.

"Yeah… sorry," Alec mumbled as he unlocked and opened the door. Marina entered, dropped her bag on the floor and went to a window overlooking the street.

"So this is Terminal City, huh? I'd read about it in the newspapers. Sounds like a good idea, having the transgenics together, and all." Marina said. Alec said nothing in response, but moved to sit on the couch.

"Do you mind me asking something?" Marina asked, and without waiting for a response she continued "If you're always this chatty, how you have friends?"

"I've found that when I talk, I end up losing friends. Keeping my mouth shut keeps me out of trouble," Alec answered simply.

"Insightful."

"My words of wisdom for the day." Alec replied. After a pause, Marina spoke.

"Look, Alec, I barely know you, but I do have a pretty good way of understanding people." Alec looked at her skeptically, but she continued. "You've obviously got some stuff you need to figure out. So I'm gonna go and explore this place and leave you to… do whatever it is you've gotta do." And with that she slipped out the front door; Alec listened to her retreating steps down the hall. He closed his eyes and rubbed them with the palms of his hands as leaned his head back onto the couch and considered what he should do next.

******

When Marina reached the bottom of the stairwell, she found herself in a large room, bustling with people, a place which she guessed was the city's headquarters. She walked around, intrigued with the constant movement and noise. This is the kind of place in which she like to be: a place with a lot of busy people minding their own business, a place where she could disappear and become one of the masses.

She walked around, carefully observing each person she came across. There were nearly as many transhumans in the room as there were X series, and as she scanned the crowd, she recognized some of them from her childhood at Manticore. Suddenly, Marina felt someone close behind her and she turned around abruptly to see who it was.

"I was wondering how long it would take for you to notice me."

"Jake!" Marina exclaimed as she jumped up to hug him. He was somewhat taller then she, and looked maybe a few years older. "How did you get here?"

"Well, when I came back from that last solo mission, I found ashes where Manticore used to be and headed out to the closest city. After searching around for a while, I ended up here a couple of days ago still trying to find you." Jake answered.

"You found me," Marina smiled.

"You know, you could have tried contacting me when I was away; you knew where I was. Or better yet, you could have tried to find me once you were out. Any other boyfriend would have dumped you by now, Ina" Jake said, a grin playing on his lips.

"Yeah, I could have. Guess I'm lucky you don't give up easily" Marina said playfully, kissing Jake to prove that she was joking.

"Worth the wait," he replied laughing.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by Alec's voice.

"Hey, Jake, how do you know Marina?" he asked. Alec had met Jake several days before and he already liked the witty X6; Jake reminded Alec of himself when he was in his late teens.

"I was a CO back at Manticore and Ina was transferred to my unit two years ago or so. What can I say, Alec? She fell for my charm," Jake replied with a laugh. Marina just rolled her eyes, still smiling. Marina's response made Alec remember Max; come to think of it, they were pretty similar. Alec decided that Marina was like Max in a lot of ways, but that she allowed her sweet side to come through every once and a while.

"Commanding Officer, huh? Nicely done," Alec said impressed. "Jake, how old are you again?"

"Nineteen."

"Oh, so you and Marina are the same age," Alec noted, pointing at the couple.

"Actually, Ina's a little - " Jake began but was abruptly cut off by Marina.

"Yup. Jake and I, nineteen, both of us," she said a little to quickly to be believable. Jake just looked at her and laughed; his adoring girlfriend promptly elbowed him in the ribs. Alec looked skeptically at Marina and asked,

"Alright, how old are you really?"

Marina looked sheepishly at Alec and replied,

"Take the nine in nineteen and flip it around."

"You're sixteen!" Alec said, a little surprised that he had been suckered into believing that she was older. He must really have been out of it when they first met.

"You must have excelled in math, huh?" Marina replied, sarcasm dripping from her words. Before Alec had the chance to reply with a comeback, Jake and Marina were being called to the other side of the room by what Alec assumed where old unit members.

"I should go say hi… haven't seen them in a while," Marina told Alec.

"Sure, go ahead. You know where to find me if you need me, guys" Alec replied. With that, Marina went running over to her friends with Jake in tow. Alec turned around and was going to walk to his office when he saw Max looking straight at him from the table where she and Logan were going over some papers. He looked down, hopping that she would look away, but when he raised his eyes again, her eyes were still locked with his. Alec gave a small, tentative smile and continued to his office. He simply wasn't prepared to talk with Max yet. He didn't know whether to apologize or to stand his ground. He didn't know what how she would act either, what she would say to him.

******

"I've been watching you for a while now and I noticed that you haven't moved your eyes from that computer screen the whole time," Marina stated.

"Yeah," replied Dix.

"Dedicated to your work, huh?"

"You could say that."

Marina gave up her fruitless attempts at small talk with Dix and got right to the point.

"Well… I was hoping that you could find out something for me. I'd really like to see my Manticore file and I figured that since you're the computer guy 'round here you could help me out."

"You actually want to revisit the skeletons in the closet?" Dix inquired as he pried his look of the monitor and onto the person he was talking to.

"Not revisit, put to rest. You think you could help me out?"

"Uh… sure. Shouldn't be too hard to hack into the Manticore files and pull up yours."

"Great!" Marina replied, genuinely happy that she would finally be able to check out her file. 'See what Manticore really thought of me,' she decided. And with that Marina explained to Dix what to look for.

******

Max moved softly toward Alec's half-open office door. Even though she had carefully thought through each of the words he had told her the day before, and had reluctantly accepted that there was at least a shade of truth to what he had said, Max was still unsure as to whether she was ready to talk to Alec yet. She positioned her head at the door's opening so that she could just see inside the room. Alec was at his desk reading over paperwork that has accumulated over the last few days. She lightly pushed the door farther open with her foot and ventured a timid "Hey". Alec simply replied by looking up at the woman in front of him. Max slowly entered the room and closed the door behind her. After facing Alec again, Max's finger played with the rim of her mug of tea.

"So…" Alec began.

"So…" Max murmured back, mirroring Alec's careful tone, testing the waters.

"You know, you don't have to pretend to be civil with me. Yell, scream, whatever you want Max. You don't need to pretend like you're not angry with me," Alec said, forcing himself to appear calm. He felt that if Max took her anger out on him, it would help to get them both back into their love-to-hate-you relationship. The last thing he wanted was to fall back into that masochistic and idiotic groove, but he figured that Max's behaviour would at least be predictable and somewhat bearable. Better than nothing, he decided.

Max flinched nearly imperceptibly at Alec's last words, but continued to stare into the black depths of her mug, as though the tea leaves would be able to explain her future.

"I'm not pretending," Max slowly said. After a pause she continued, looking up at Alec to read his reaction. "After we… talked, I did a lot of thinking. You weren't so off, Alec. I'm not happy… I actually don't think I've ever been more miserable. I'm just… confused… about everything."

Alec was about to interrupt her, but Max continued, looking back down at her hands.

"I know there's nothing left between Logan and I. I think I've know that for a while now, I just needed to acknowledge it. I'm lost with what's next." Max looked up at Alec before completing what was most likely the hardest admission she had ever made. "One thing's sure, though. Logan's gone tomorrow morning. I told him that he would have to leave Terminal City. No lies, Alec, no tricks this time… just the truth." Max turned slowly towards the door, her emotionless face concealing the mixed feelings that she felt so intensely.

Alec watched Max's retreating form as she left his office. Never in a million years could he have foreseen that happening. And Max thought that she was the confused one…

******

Again with the reviewing - thanks a million.