A/N: Thank you so much for all the great reviews! They are really encouraging me. I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter, because I was having trouble with it, but finally decided to just go ahead and post it. I hope this one's ok, too, and again I apologize for any mistakes; I'm the only one checking it over, and I've found that sometimes I'm too close to my own writing to catch all the mistakes, if you know what I mean. Also, I didn't become an avid fan of Dark Angel until partway through season 2, so if you guys catch any mistakes regarding the characters pasts, I apologize. I'm not sure if this story will be Logan/Asha as well as Max/Alec. Probably, but I don't know much about Asha. I'll try to look up some information on her, because she will have a role in this story, regardless of whether or not she ends up with Logan.
Timeline: Sorry, I forgot to add this before; this story takes place after Dawg Day Afternoon.
Disclaimer: Dark Angel does not belong to me. It would be very nice if it did, but like I told you before, I'm very broke, so the possibility of me owning an entire TV show is highly unlikely.
Chapter Two
___________________________________________________________________________
Hidden Pain
Logan Cale's Apartment
Seattle Wa., September 4th, 2021
Her eyes peered soulfully into his own from the ghostly illumination of the
computer screen. Hair, dark, silken, tumbled as a sleek waterfall down a softly curved
body.
He removed his glasses, and set them carefully aside. Machinery hummed all
around; the soft buzz of his exoskeleton joined the surrounding cacophony of sound. His
voice rumbled softly in the near silence of the room.
"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This cable hack will last exactly sixty
seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in the
city."
"Rachel Berrisford, a young woman murdered by the US government. The
innocent victim of a mission to assassinate her father, carried out by the government
agency called Manticore."
The nearby TV monitor flashed her image, lingering to give those watching time
to take in this young woman's beguiling face, and the gentle curve of full lips.
"Warned, by one of these transgenics the city of Seattle so casually condemns, of
Manticore's plans. Told by the very man sent to kill her father to get out of town.
Because he'd fallen in love with her, and would risk his own life to preserve her
happiness. A transgenic, the same breed of those you say have no feelings, no remorse.
Who you say kill mindlessly, without emotion."
He paused to allow his words to sink in.
"Who are you to say what transgenics are? Who are you to automatically damn
them to hell because they are different than the rest of us? What do the people of Seattle
really know of transgenics? Nothing. And yet they jump eagerly to the conclusion that
the genetically engineered are all cold-blooded killers who don't give a second thought to
murdering an innocent child."
The picture shifted now to one of the boy murdered only the day before, taken by
a passing hoverdrone.
"This is the result. Seattle is angry that these 'freaks,' as you term them, have
escaped into the world. But this anger is taking a turn to the violent; even among those
that are not swayed by Eyes Only's words, can you honestly claim that this is right?"
The boy's mutilated and misshapen figure brightened again in vibrant detail.
"Are the ones who did this any better than any genetically-engineered soldiers
running around? Eyes Only thinks not."
"This has been a streaming freedom video. Peace. Out."
Sound penetrated his idyllic escape from reality. Fingers tightened in that
momentary flash of irritation that surged within his breast; the paintbrush clutched by a
once loving hand parted with a crack.
The sound increased in volume, tempo, swirling all around him. He felt its
jarring touch all throughout his body.
"Alec!" Joshua called, frustration thick in his tone. "TV too loud!"
"That's the only way to watch it, buddy!"
The nomalie rose with a slight growl, and paced into the living room. His eyes
darted across the all-too-familiar scene of his friend seated in an armchair pulled close to
the precious 'boob tube,' so positioned for 'maximal viewing effect' as Alec had once
explained.
"Can't concentrate. Trying to paint."
"C'mon, Josh; sit down and watch it with me for once. You paint all the time."
"No. Joshua busy." the larger transgenic said brusquely.
Alec's gaze strayed from the glowing screen before him to the hovering nomalie.
The severity of the transgenic's deformed features, so unlike Joshua's adolescent, loving
nature, prompted Alec to seize the remote.
The TV screen faded gradually into black oblivion.
"Why not Alec at work?"
"You tryin' to get rid of me?"
"Want to be alone." Joshua replied tightly. His entire frame tensed, muscles
undulating beneath loose clothing as a testament to the unleashed power lurking just
below the surface.
"You don't want me here?" Alec asked carefully, studying his friend closely.
"Joshua want to be alone! Alec not understand?"
"Hey pal, I'm not lookin' to offend you or anything." the X-5 responded, lifting
both hands, rising slowly. Joshua's chest heaved rapidly; anger boiled within those
gentle eyes, shadowed darkly now by thick lashes.
The surrounding atmosphere thickened in sync with the nomalie's plunging
mood.
"Josh, what's going on?"
"Joshua want to be alone! Not want Alec or TV disturbing him!"
"Look, calm down, ok? Max'll have a coronary if I get you all worked up.
What's buggin' you, Josh? Is it Annie?"
Joshua's nostrils heaved. Sadness pooled deep within that furious gaze, and
suddenly all fight went out of him. Shoulders sagged beneath a burden not visible to the
naked eye.
"Want Annie." he whispered.
Alec swallowed hard. "I know Josh. I know you miss her. But it'll get better,
pal. I promise."
"Want Max."
*Of course. Max. Guess I'm not enough.* Alec thought, and a sudden loneliness
swelled inside. He had nothing of the camaraderie between Max and Joshua; no one who
cared for him as she did for the sweetly naive transgenic.
His hand closed gently upon the nomalie's shoulder.
Joshua pulled away, face curtained by tangles of long hair that tumbled over
features twisted in mourning.
Alec's jaw tightened visibly, this casual dismissal hurting more than he cared to
admit. He drew languidly back, this movement performed sluggishly, bitterness surging
to fill the void where pity and sympathy had taken hold.
"Ok. Max. Sure."
Silence from his companion, but gleaming eyes peeked out to display a message
of gratitude embedded deep within.
Alec smiled faintly, and turned to leave.
His grasp on the emotions churning inside was but a tenuous one, and the startling
clarity of feelings seldom experienced rankled in the deepest recesses of his soul.
The sound of his voice automatically raised her head to the TV mounted on the
far wall.
But this time, his words did not incite the bitter-sweet fondness they so often
instilled.
Max recognized the young woman immediately. Her eyes widened at the sight of
this girl's face, such as she hadn't expected to see again; but now it leapt out at her in
all-too stark detail. Soft lighting polished smooth hair to a burnished chestnut; kind eyes
brimmed full of life.
She tore her own eyes from the scene to the entrance of Jam Pony Xpress, some
instinct nagging for her to do so.
He had frozen just inside, ashen-faced and trembling. Stunned hazel eyes
wondered to her own, and held, for a single moment, before he turned and fled into the
streets.
"Why the hell did you do that?"
Logan shrank in face of her anger; she practically radiated hostility, the very air
alive with her rage.
"What the hell were you thinking, huh? Tell me that!" And her voice darkened
ominously. "What the *hell* were you thinking?"
"Max, I-"
"Don't say anything, dammit!" she hissed, crossing both arms hard over her
chest. "He booked the second he saw her face up on the TV! And now he's gone;
probably jumped off a bridge somewhere or gotten his ass picked up by White!"
The pleasant aroma of cooking pasta vanished into the background, all sensations
but her wrath retreating with a suddenness that left the surrounding air to swirl blackly
before her. She paced frantically, removing anything in her path with a swift, vicious
thrust of one boot, tumbling whatever object happened to thwart her frenzied movement
across the carpet.
"He's gone and it's your fault! What if White got him?"
"Max calm down. Alec's fine; he knew how to take care of himself. Nothing's
going to happen."
"Why did you even *consider* using Rachel in one of your cable hacks? Do you
realize what seeing her face again probably did to him? Or do you even care? It's just
Alec, right? No big deal. So what if someone decides to kill him just like that boy I tried
to save?"
"That's not fair." Logan said quietly, eyeing her warily. "I don't want anything
bad happening to Alec."
"Then why the hell did you do something so stupid?" she spat with exasperation.
Dammit, Logan! I've looked everywhere for him; he's gone."
"Max, it's all right. We'll keep looking for him. He must be around somewhere.
He's just upset; needs time to cool off."
"He wouldn't need to cool off if you hadn't run that damn cable hack!"
"Alec is *fine.* I did this for your own good, Max. It wasn't intended to hurt
Alec."
"For my own good? How the hell is it for my own good, when now I have to go
chasing all over the city for a distraught X-5? Would you please explain how that could
be for my own good, 'cause I'm a little confused here!"
"I needed to make a point. The public is going to keep being afraid of
transgenics, and keep hurting them, unless something is down about it. It was the best
way I could think of to emphasize the fact that you're not a danger to anyone."
"And you couldn't possibly think of any other way to do that?" Max demanded.
She pivoted on a heel, and made hastily for the doorway, arms swinging at her sides.
"You know what? I don't give a damn; I've still got to find him before something
happens. If you give a shit, maybe you might drive around for a few hours and help me
out."
The door slammed with a harshness that shuddered the pictures on his walls.
* * *
Day waned gently into night, blanketing the city in a cloak of darkness that
descended as the sun disappeared behind far-off hillsides. Few traveled the roads this
evening but the sporadic police cruiser on the lookout for late-night speeders.
She traversed slick and glistening intersections on her Ninja. Its engine purred
between her thighs with comforting masculinity, lending some semblance of calm to her
turbulent thoughts.
He was nowhere to be found; every alley, every pile of rubble she'd happened
upon had been thoroughly scoured only to turn up nothing each time, driving fear deeper
in her heart. She felt its grasp tighten her chest, until the simple act of breathing became
difficult.
She swallowed around the lump crusting her throat, and gunned the bike to its
limit, whipping around corners with reckless abandon.
*Please, please be all right you asshole.*
Timeline: Sorry, I forgot to add this before; this story takes place after Dawg Day Afternoon.
Disclaimer: Dark Angel does not belong to me. It would be very nice if it did, but like I told you before, I'm very broke, so the possibility of me owning an entire TV show is highly unlikely.
Chapter Two
___________________________________________________________________________
Hidden Pain
Logan Cale's Apartment
Seattle Wa., September 4th, 2021
Her eyes peered soulfully into his own from the ghostly illumination of the
computer screen. Hair, dark, silken, tumbled as a sleek waterfall down a softly curved
body.
He removed his glasses, and set them carefully aside. Machinery hummed all
around; the soft buzz of his exoskeleton joined the surrounding cacophony of sound. His
voice rumbled softly in the near silence of the room.
"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This cable hack will last exactly sixty
seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in the
city."
"Rachel Berrisford, a young woman murdered by the US government. The
innocent victim of a mission to assassinate her father, carried out by the government
agency called Manticore."
The nearby TV monitor flashed her image, lingering to give those watching time
to take in this young woman's beguiling face, and the gentle curve of full lips.
"Warned, by one of these transgenics the city of Seattle so casually condemns, of
Manticore's plans. Told by the very man sent to kill her father to get out of town.
Because he'd fallen in love with her, and would risk his own life to preserve her
happiness. A transgenic, the same breed of those you say have no feelings, no remorse.
Who you say kill mindlessly, without emotion."
He paused to allow his words to sink in.
"Who are you to say what transgenics are? Who are you to automatically damn
them to hell because they are different than the rest of us? What do the people of Seattle
really know of transgenics? Nothing. And yet they jump eagerly to the conclusion that
the genetically engineered are all cold-blooded killers who don't give a second thought to
murdering an innocent child."
The picture shifted now to one of the boy murdered only the day before, taken by
a passing hoverdrone.
"This is the result. Seattle is angry that these 'freaks,' as you term them, have
escaped into the world. But this anger is taking a turn to the violent; even among those
that are not swayed by Eyes Only's words, can you honestly claim that this is right?"
The boy's mutilated and misshapen figure brightened again in vibrant detail.
"Are the ones who did this any better than any genetically-engineered soldiers
running around? Eyes Only thinks not."
"This has been a streaming freedom video. Peace. Out."
Sound penetrated his idyllic escape from reality. Fingers tightened in that
momentary flash of irritation that surged within his breast; the paintbrush clutched by a
once loving hand parted with a crack.
The sound increased in volume, tempo, swirling all around him. He felt its
jarring touch all throughout his body.
"Alec!" Joshua called, frustration thick in his tone. "TV too loud!"
"That's the only way to watch it, buddy!"
The nomalie rose with a slight growl, and paced into the living room. His eyes
darted across the all-too-familiar scene of his friend seated in an armchair pulled close to
the precious 'boob tube,' so positioned for 'maximal viewing effect' as Alec had once
explained.
"Can't concentrate. Trying to paint."
"C'mon, Josh; sit down and watch it with me for once. You paint all the time."
"No. Joshua busy." the larger transgenic said brusquely.
Alec's gaze strayed from the glowing screen before him to the hovering nomalie.
The severity of the transgenic's deformed features, so unlike Joshua's adolescent, loving
nature, prompted Alec to seize the remote.
The TV screen faded gradually into black oblivion.
"Why not Alec at work?"
"You tryin' to get rid of me?"
"Want to be alone." Joshua replied tightly. His entire frame tensed, muscles
undulating beneath loose clothing as a testament to the unleashed power lurking just
below the surface.
"You don't want me here?" Alec asked carefully, studying his friend closely.
"Joshua want to be alone! Alec not understand?"
"Hey pal, I'm not lookin' to offend you or anything." the X-5 responded, lifting
both hands, rising slowly. Joshua's chest heaved rapidly; anger boiled within those
gentle eyes, shadowed darkly now by thick lashes.
The surrounding atmosphere thickened in sync with the nomalie's plunging
mood.
"Josh, what's going on?"
"Joshua want to be alone! Not want Alec or TV disturbing him!"
"Look, calm down, ok? Max'll have a coronary if I get you all worked up.
What's buggin' you, Josh? Is it Annie?"
Joshua's nostrils heaved. Sadness pooled deep within that furious gaze, and
suddenly all fight went out of him. Shoulders sagged beneath a burden not visible to the
naked eye.
"Want Annie." he whispered.
Alec swallowed hard. "I know Josh. I know you miss her. But it'll get better,
pal. I promise."
"Want Max."
*Of course. Max. Guess I'm not enough.* Alec thought, and a sudden loneliness
swelled inside. He had nothing of the camaraderie between Max and Joshua; no one who
cared for him as she did for the sweetly naive transgenic.
His hand closed gently upon the nomalie's shoulder.
Joshua pulled away, face curtained by tangles of long hair that tumbled over
features twisted in mourning.
Alec's jaw tightened visibly, this casual dismissal hurting more than he cared to
admit. He drew languidly back, this movement performed sluggishly, bitterness surging
to fill the void where pity and sympathy had taken hold.
"Ok. Max. Sure."
Silence from his companion, but gleaming eyes peeked out to display a message
of gratitude embedded deep within.
Alec smiled faintly, and turned to leave.
His grasp on the emotions churning inside was but a tenuous one, and the startling
clarity of feelings seldom experienced rankled in the deepest recesses of his soul.
The sound of his voice automatically raised her head to the TV mounted on the
far wall.
But this time, his words did not incite the bitter-sweet fondness they so often
instilled.
Max recognized the young woman immediately. Her eyes widened at the sight of
this girl's face, such as she hadn't expected to see again; but now it leapt out at her in
all-too stark detail. Soft lighting polished smooth hair to a burnished chestnut; kind eyes
brimmed full of life.
She tore her own eyes from the scene to the entrance of Jam Pony Xpress, some
instinct nagging for her to do so.
He had frozen just inside, ashen-faced and trembling. Stunned hazel eyes
wondered to her own, and held, for a single moment, before he turned and fled into the
streets.
"Why the hell did you do that?"
Logan shrank in face of her anger; she practically radiated hostility, the very air
alive with her rage.
"What the hell were you thinking, huh? Tell me that!" And her voice darkened
ominously. "What the *hell* were you thinking?"
"Max, I-"
"Don't say anything, dammit!" she hissed, crossing both arms hard over her
chest. "He booked the second he saw her face up on the TV! And now he's gone;
probably jumped off a bridge somewhere or gotten his ass picked up by White!"
The pleasant aroma of cooking pasta vanished into the background, all sensations
but her wrath retreating with a suddenness that left the surrounding air to swirl blackly
before her. She paced frantically, removing anything in her path with a swift, vicious
thrust of one boot, tumbling whatever object happened to thwart her frenzied movement
across the carpet.
"He's gone and it's your fault! What if White got him?"
"Max calm down. Alec's fine; he knew how to take care of himself. Nothing's
going to happen."
"Why did you even *consider* using Rachel in one of your cable hacks? Do you
realize what seeing her face again probably did to him? Or do you even care? It's just
Alec, right? No big deal. So what if someone decides to kill him just like that boy I tried
to save?"
"That's not fair." Logan said quietly, eyeing her warily. "I don't want anything
bad happening to Alec."
"Then why the hell did you do something so stupid?" she spat with exasperation.
Dammit, Logan! I've looked everywhere for him; he's gone."
"Max, it's all right. We'll keep looking for him. He must be around somewhere.
He's just upset; needs time to cool off."
"He wouldn't need to cool off if you hadn't run that damn cable hack!"
"Alec is *fine.* I did this for your own good, Max. It wasn't intended to hurt
Alec."
"For my own good? How the hell is it for my own good, when now I have to go
chasing all over the city for a distraught X-5? Would you please explain how that could
be for my own good, 'cause I'm a little confused here!"
"I needed to make a point. The public is going to keep being afraid of
transgenics, and keep hurting them, unless something is down about it. It was the best
way I could think of to emphasize the fact that you're not a danger to anyone."
"And you couldn't possibly think of any other way to do that?" Max demanded.
She pivoted on a heel, and made hastily for the doorway, arms swinging at her sides.
"You know what? I don't give a damn; I've still got to find him before something
happens. If you give a shit, maybe you might drive around for a few hours and help me
out."
The door slammed with a harshness that shuddered the pictures on his walls.
* * *
Day waned gently into night, blanketing the city in a cloak of darkness that
descended as the sun disappeared behind far-off hillsides. Few traveled the roads this
evening but the sporadic police cruiser on the lookout for late-night speeders.
She traversed slick and glistening intersections on her Ninja. Its engine purred
between her thighs with comforting masculinity, lending some semblance of calm to her
turbulent thoughts.
He was nowhere to be found; every alley, every pile of rubble she'd happened
upon had been thoroughly scoured only to turn up nothing each time, driving fear deeper
in her heart. She felt its grasp tighten her chest, until the simple act of breathing became
difficult.
She swallowed around the lump crusting her throat, and gunned the bike to its
limit, whipping around corners with reckless abandon.
*Please, please be all right you asshole.*