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*Between Love and Hate*
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Spoilers: This is the fifth story in my series – if you haven't read any of my work before, you'd be best off going back to read and understand. The first story was Shattered Trusts and Whispered Confessions. The second is Remembering to Forget, the third is Events That Lead To Greatness. The most recent is the fourth story called the Longest Day (which was basically just a wrap up of some confusing things I had to sort out from previous works). This series is set after Hello Goodbye but does reveal spoilers from the rest of the season, as I incorporate it into the story.
Disclaimer: Ideas are mine based on the brilliant work of the Dark Angel team – so don't sue me! I wish I owned Alec, but I don't. So I have to settle for writing fiction about him.
Authors Note: Just a general shout out thanks to all the great readers who have been reviewing my work and totally keeping me motivated. If it weren't for you guys I wouldn't be writing this stuff. I am trying out a new style of writing in this one; let me know what you guys think.
Have fun and remember to review!
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TWO WEEKS LATER...
MAXHe's always on my mind. I can't help it.
Its like I turn left to see a guy his height, and he's in my mind. I turn left and get a flash of green in someone's eyes and there he is again, occupying my thoughts.
Plaguing my dreams.
And I miss him so much, it's like this insanely annoying gnawing at the pit of my stomach that I can't stop, I can't ignore. Its there and everyday I am away from him it gets worse.
Alec.
Time away from him was supposed to give me a chance to realise how I don't need him. But instead, I haven't even been able to effectively gather information like planned because all I can think about is him.
Alec.
That last night together was amazing, the best ever. But that's bad, because it left me wanting more – craving more. I need more.
I should've walked away, listened to my head instead of my heart.
Why do we always want the ones we cant have?
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Seattle; Terminal City; September 4th 2023
1200 hours
Luke greeted Alec with his familiar grin, eyes twinkling as they happily focused on his CO.
"Good morning Luke."
"Morning sir."
"Luke..."
"Fine. But you know its something you have to get used to. Morning Alec."
"Better. How are things going?"
"Just scouring the net. Keeping an eye out for any transgenic related occurrences."
"And?"
"Nothing yet."
He redirected his gaze back to the computer monitor, fingers clicking away furiously.
"You seen Ben?"
"Yeah, he was just in here. You know, I don't know what we'd do without him. The building restorations are almost finished thanks to his organisational skills."
"Maybe I should make him CO then."
"That's not what I meant Alec. I know you still doubt what side he's playing for."
"I never said that."
"Okay. Look, I was just pointing out that he's doing a good job. You're always going to be our pick as CO – our instincts wouldn't have it any other way. They recognise you as the alpha male."
"Maybe."
"No doubt about it. So don't worry. We know you're busy with keeping us alive and fed. Plus all your stuff on the outside world. Ben's just like... your second. Looking after things while you're occupied."
"Hmm..."
"Alec, we trust him. I wish you could too."
"I don't. But that's my problem and I'd like you to forget I even said that."
"Speaking of your problems... Max is on her way home."
"Mission took longer than we thought."
"Yeah. She said she ran into some complications retrieving info."
"Oh."
"She'll be here soon. You should be the one to debrief her Alec – or are things going to be too tense between you two?"
Luke gave him a knowing smile and Alec groaned inwardly, why was it that everyone always knew what was happening in his life?
"I'll do it thanks. Simple stake out mission shouldn't take too long for her to outline the on goings."
"Sounds about right."
The two heads shot up at the new voice in surprise, staring at the newcomer. Alec took a deep breath and gave a cautious smile,
"Hey Max, how'd it go?"
"Lets just get this over with."
She stormed off towards his office and Alec sighed,
"Great, coz I was so looking forward to it."
Luke watched after them with a bemused expression, wishing he could be a fly on the wall to hear everything that was going to be said.
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Alec caught up to Max just outside his office, stopping as she slammed the door in his face.
*Well I can see she's forgiven me – not that I did anything wrong. *
He knocked on the door lightly, amazed that his palms were actually sweaty,
"Max, I'd rather we did this face to face... are you going to let me in?"
"Its not locked."
"So can I come in?"
"If you want. I don't care. Its your office."
He sighed again, pushing his way cautiously into the room, closing the door behind him. Max glared at him from her position leaning against his desk with her arms folded protectively over her chest, her legs spread in an aggressive stance.
"You gonna tell me what's on your mind?"
"What makes you think something's plaguing me Alec?"
"Fine, don't tell me. At least let me know what happened while you were away – it took a lot longer than it should've."
"Nothing went wrong. Just the intel was harder to obtain than anticipated."
"How come? It shouldn't have. This was a simple mission estimated to take only a week at most."
"Well it took longer okay! Geez, would you get off my back already?"
He lifted his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender,
"Alright, alright! You know I had to ask is all."
Max's face dropped sullenly and she gazed at him sadly,
"Couldn't find any traces of familiars. As far as this info you sent me off for states, they seem to have fallen back to lick their wounds. So it looks like our trouble with the familiars is a chapter in our lives that is closed."
"I hope so."
"So that's it. We're done."
She turned her face away from him and he sighed, a habit he seemed to constantly perform around her,
"In more ways than one."
"You got something you want to say to me Alec?"
"You've obviously got something you want to say to me Maxie."
"I don't have anything to say."
"Then we're done."
"Alec..."
"Max?"
"I missed you."
He nodded at her, his eyes gentle and understanding,
"I know. I mean... I missed you too."
"The time away... it was hard. It hurt everyday and it slowly drove me nuts. I missed you like crazy. And now I'm back and I can actually reach out and touch you. It hurts even more because we promised we wouldn't go back."
She glanced at him expectantly, awaiting some kind of response. Alec opened his mouth to answer her, they both jumped as Luke and Dix burst into the room. His eyes fell to their wide faces,
"What the hell?"
"Sorry to interrupt sir, Alec. But, but..."
"What?"
"There's been a discovery. We need to mobilise immediately."
His eyes widened again as he faced the two anomalies, his conversation with Max forgotten,
"What's the threat?"
"Something we were positive had been contained."
"Serious?"
"Deadly."
"Lets move, you can explain on the way."
"Yes sir!"
Alec turned to Max, his face pleading,
"Later?"
She nodded back at him silently; following him closely as they all made their way out of the office to face a threat that might change their lives forever.
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To be continued...
Author's Note:
Thanks to Nicole, Panda007, Salzstar, Lakergirl, Constar494 and Sho for your terrific reviews. I really appreciated them, even though I was only joking about being sad, you guys definitely made me smile! J