Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Dark Angel
N.B Max and Logan have finally come to an agreement that they can't be together. It's sort of Angel/Buffy styley. For anyone that doesn't get that, they will always love each other but they have to move on cos it can never happen. Logan is with Asha.
-After the time of the second season, but discounting 'Freak Nation' i.e., transgenic roam free, and Cici and Mole and everyone are around. Sketchy knows about Alec and Max, but everyone else, like Normal, is still in the dark.
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"Hey Bu!" Called original Cindy as Max entered Jam Pony, "Where were you all night?" She smiled cheekily. Max returned it with a very sarcastic smile,
"Don't get excited, girl, its nothing like that. I was working." Cindy looked concerned, and lowered her voice,
"In what way? Is there a problem?"
"Depends what you mean. I think either White has a new way of tracking us, or there's just a hell of a lot more transgenic's moving into Seattle. I had to do the superwoman act five times just last night!"
"Oo, does that include the costume?" Sketchy grinned as he joined them. Cindy introduced the back of his head to her palm,
"Shut up fool!" she snapped. Max just laughed.
"Alec around?" she asked Sketchy. He frowned,
"What, he didn't help you?" Max quickly shook her head,
"He helped, but he went home for a shower. He not come in yet then?" Sketchy shook his head. But at that moment Alec strolled through the door, soon followed by Cici, another X5 currently employed at Jam Pony.
"Ah! There's my golden boy!" Chirped Normal beaming at Alec, who grinned at his friends, knowing how annoyed they'd be that he could walk in over half an hour late an get off scot free. Max just smiled back, shaking her head.
"Hey guys." Alec called, going to his locker.
"That boy is just asking for original Cindy to put the smack down!" Max laughed again at her friend's annoyance,
"It's not his fault Normal worships him!" she even surprised herself coming to Alec's aid,
"He entered the fighting thing, that's good enough for me." Huffed Sketchy.
"Hmm, true" Max agreed, " Oh, well, I'll just have to kick his ass later." She shrugged. "Hey Cici. Everything go smoothly?" Sketchy forgot his annoyance, in the hope of hearing about some complicated plan, but Cici just nodded, and turned to greet the others.
"Max! Hot run, South market!" Normal yelled. She rolled her eyes,
"I'd better go. You going to Crash tonight?" she asked the others as she stood.
"Sure thing Bu." Cindy nodded,
"Ok." Sketchy shrugged
"I can't, sorry, I've got to help Mole with some technical shite." Cici groaned. Max smiled sympathetically.
"Hey Alec!" she yelled. He stuck his head round the side of the lockers, eyebrows raised, "Crash?" Max asked. He gave her a thumbs-up and disappeared once more. "Cool." She said, and left.
That evening-Crash
It turned out that Logan and Asha were there too, so they all got a table together, and Logan bought the first round. Desperate for some extra cash, Sketchy challenged Alec to a game of pool.
"Your not gonna win." Alec said, Sketchy shrugged, then brightened,
"How about we do a new kinda bet, where, if I win, I get your money, but if you win, you just win?" Alec shook his head,
"That's not gonna happen Sketch." But Sketchy played him several times anyway, and lost every time. Sick of Alec smug expression, Max decided to go join them, so Cindy was left sitting awkwardly with Logan and Asha.
"So, er, how're things?" Logan asked. Cindy nodded,
"Ai-aight." Then she remembered what Max had said, "'Cept Max said there's an unusual number of transgenic's getting' in trouble wit' White." Logan looked surprised,
"Really? More than usual? Is she worried?" Cindy looked past Logan towards the pool tables where Max was whooping Alec, and loving it.
"Doesn't seem to be." Cindy smiled, "I just thought you might know if White had any new transgenic tracking thingies." Logan shook his head, still watching Max. Asha scooted closer to Logan, intertwining her fingers in his, blatantly trying to divert his attention.
"Do you want another drink, baby?" she cooed.
"What?" Logan said turning round. "Sorry? Did you say something?" annoyed, Asha grabbed the jug and stormed off. Logan winced, "What did I do?" Cindy chuckled,
"Don't worry yourself Logan." Then her smile faded a little, and she looked understanding. "You still dig her, huh?" Logan looked surprised, but not for long.
"I always will. But y'know, life must go on."
"Yeah." Cindy sighed, Logan looked at her oddly, "What, Logan?"
"She's not seeing anyone is she?" Cindy laughed shortly,
"Why shouldn't she? You are."
"I know, I guess that's selfish…. But is she?"
"No." Logan breathed a sigh of relief, and they both turned to a squeal from over by the pool tables. It was clear that Max had won, but Alec had refused to pay up. Max had grabbed his hand that held the cash, and they were now playfully wrestling for it. Alec spun Max in using her own grip on his hand, holding her against him, she wriggled,
"You are sooo dead!" she laughed, digging her nails into his hand. He cried out and flung her away. When he looked down at his hand it was empty. Max grinned wickedly, waving the notes, "I win." Logan looked away. Cindy was just amazed. She had never noticed the energy between Max and Alec. She'd caught on that Alec liked Max, obviously, but vice versa? No way. She thought, surely. The others returned, Max dropping into the seat next to Cindy, Alec next to her, and Sketchy next. Max grinned at Cindy,
"I won." Cindy laughed again,
"I saw, Bu. The pool and the fight."
"Ah, I was holding back. Wouldn't want to make a girl cry." Alec taunted. Max gasped,
"You wanna go again then?" Alec dug in his pockets,
"Actually I'm broke, so no." Max smiled, mockingly smug. A moment later, her cell phone rang, she answered it immediately, distress clear on her face from the number displayed. All the others heard was,
"Yeah…you sure?… uh-huh. Ok, we'll be right there." She hung up and nudged Alec, "We gotta go, now."
Racing down the streets on their bikes, Max and Alec soon caught up to the cars pursuing an X-series transgenic, who couldn't be older than X-9. Bastards, Max thought. The cars stopped just in front of her, as they reached an alley too narrow for a car to drive down. Men piled out and continued the pursuit. Max leapt off her bike as the car blocked the entrance. Alec followed suit. Running down the alley, they easily caught Whites men. Max tapped one on the shoulder as they surrounded the child.
"Can I play?" she quipped, and knocked the guy out cold with a fist as he turned. "Run!" she yelled to the kid, and she obeyed, as Whites men were forced to concentrate on the flying fists that were Max and Alec. There were only two guys left, and as Max finished off one, Alec saw the other raise a gun.
"Max!" he screamed as he threw a dustbin lid at the guy, at the same time as diving at Max to knock her out of the way of the speeding bullet. They rolled across the ground, propelled by the momentum of his jump, and Max ended up on top of him. They were both still clinging to each other from the fall, and looking down into his eyes, Max felt a strange reluctance to let go. "You ok?" he breathed. She just nodded.
"Do I look flushed?" she asked. He looked confused, but answered,
"No." So I don't think I'm in heat, she thought. Realising that she was still lying on top of Alec, she forced herself to let go, and rolled off to sit on the ground. She looked around. Alec sat up too, brushing himself off. "Looks like the kid took your advice." He said, following her gaze. She nodded, finding it hard to speak. He looked at her oddly. "You want to go back to Crash?" he suggested. She shook her head. "So, what do you want to do?"
"Huh? Oh, I think I'll just go home, watch TV." Alec looked disappointed at being dropped. Noticing, she added, "You can come too if you want. I mean, I'm always hanging around at yours." He shook his head,
"Na, wouldn't want to intrude." She stopped him as he tried to get up.
"It's really ok, y'know, if you want to." She didn't meet his eyes, but he knew she meant it. He shrugged,
"Ok then." She smiled, and they made their way back to the bikes.
When they reached the apartment, they sat on the couch, but ended up talking instead of watching TV. They rarely got a chance to talk anything but work, and both found that it was actually pretty easy to talk to one another about stuff they usually wouldn't. They told each other amusing stories, Alec's from Manticore missions, Max's from her outside life. They were both laughing after Max had told Alec about Sketchy's run in with Gangsters, when without meaning to, their eyes met. The laughter subsided, and Max once again found herself just gazing into his eyes. Slowly, and almost unconsciously, they both leant forward, until they were only millimetres apart, and eventually, their lips touched. The kiss was warm, and sweet, and Max was soon clinging to Alec again, as his fingers became entangled in her hair. A minute later, as if they both had just realised what they were doing, they sprung apart.
"I'm sorry." Alec spluttered, "I didn't mean to be…" Max placed a finger to his lips, forgetting her initial embarrassment. She moved closer to him, and they came together once again, both revelling in this new found delight in the most unlikely of places. They didn't separate again until Max heard footsteps outside the door,
"Cindy!" she whispered, laughing.
"Oh, crap!" he answered, also laughing. Max quickly wiped the lipstick from Alec's mouth, and switched the TV on. They both sat back, just as Cindy walked in.
"Oh, you guys are back." She looked a little surprised to see Alec there, but continued, "Everything ok?" Max nodded, a little too quickly,
"Yeah, very things fine. We took care of it. Everything's great."
"Great." Alec agreed, nodding. Cindy raised her eyebrows,
"Ok. I'm going to bed."
"I should probably be going. Need to get my beauty sleep." Alec smiled, "See you."
"Bye" Cindy said,
"Later." Max smiled. Cindy missed the slight squeeze Alec gave Max's hand as he stood up. He left, and Cindy went to bed. Max just sat there, thinking about what had just happened, Alec. She thought, huh, who'd have thought it! Alec. Annoying, sarcastic, Alec. He's so not sweet… but he's funny, I guess. Alec. Hmm. She almost laughed at herself, then decided that she would try to get some sleep too, maybe her dreams might not be as bad as usual.
Next day, at work, Max felt very vulnerable, even though she new there was no way anyone could know, she just had that over-paranoid feeling everyone gets when they're hiding something. When Alec strolled in, though, she couldn't help smiling. It was so weird to find herself thinking of him as this gorgeous guy, when until yesterday he was just plain old Alec.
"Hey." He greeted her just as normal, but she caught the slight glint in his eye that told her he saw her differently too. Looking round at her friends, Max knew no one else saw it. Max agreed to meet Cindy and the others back there for lunch, then set of on the first run.
At lunch, she was the first back and went to put her bag away in her locker. A few minutes later, Alec arrived.
"Hey Max." he smiled, "No one else back?"
"Nope." She shook her head.
"So about last night." He ventured, she looked up. "You weren't in heat were you?"
"No, no, no. It woulda got a whole lot more complicated if I'd been in heat. Trust me." She laughed, "No… That was just me." He nodded, pleased,
"Good. I mean, I didn't want to get my ass kicked for taking advantage of you or something." She laughed again.
"If I was in heat, you wouldn't have had a chance to take advantage. I get it kinda strong." She admitted. They both smiled. "It was just me. She repeated.
Cindy arrived a few minutes later, and looking around, she couldn't see any of the others. She went round to her locker at the back, and stopped suddenly, when she saw someone she was pretty sure was Alec, with his back to her, but clearly in an embrace with someone else she couldn't see.
"Damn Alec, d'you have to do that here?" she exclaimed, turning straight back round. The two broke apart, and Max burst out laughing. She stopped herself, not wanting to make Cindy come back. She and Alec both grinned,
"Well that was close." He whispered.
"Yeah. How're we gonna tell them?" he shook his head.
"I have no idea. Maybe it'll just have to be our little secret til we can work that out." He smiled, linking his hands behind her back. She rested her wrists on his shoulders,
"Maybe it will." She grinned and kissed him once again. "But right now we have to work out how to get outta here without her seeing me." She laughed shortly again.