Title: Beautiful Stranger


Rating: PG, may contain a few swear words

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, Cameron & Eglee, etc. I own nothing and I'm gaining only valuable writing experience.


Summary: A short, sappy M/A fic revolving around the Madonna song Beautiful Stranger

Author's Note: Originally I hadn't planned to continue this story and further than the two chapters already written but I've been inspired by some kind reviews. So cheers Mooch, Ting, Candyabble, Lyndsay and Kim for the reviews and encouragement, they brighten my day considerably and make me feel as if I have some idea as to what I'm doing!

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Alec was running hard causing him to puff and for a genetically engineered solider that was quite an achievement. But he had barely even noticed, right now he only had one thought constantly racing through his mind and that was to find Max. Alec had finally accepted what he had known all along and made the decision to tell Max he was in love with her and he couldn't wait. He was excited, nervous and apprehensive all at the same time but overall he was happy, in fact Alec was beaming. 'Now if I can just figure out where she is' he thought to himself. Then it hit him like a tidal wave, crash! Happy in his decision Alec increased his speed in order to get to his desired destination and confess his love to Max more quickly.

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As Max ran she tried to think of possible places that Alec could be. He wasn't at crash when she'd left which meant he was either staying away completely or would be there later. At least she had a place to fall back on if she couldn't find him. After careful deliberation and several blocks of running, Max found herself standing outside Alec's apartment. 'Well here goes nothing' she thought as she knocked twice on the door and waited for a response. Receiving no answer after only a few seconds Max was growing impatient. She knocked again, this time louder hoping that Alec simply hadn't heard her the first time. Her mind was screaming that this was a ridiculous possibility since Alec had hypersensitive hearing and could hear a pin drop from a mile away. Max was growing anxious. 'Why wasn't he opening the door?' she questioned. Maybe he was asleep, or maybe he was with someone else. Max grew panicky as that thought, and the implications it represented, dawned on her. She pressed her ear up to the door, trying to hear even the slightest hint of a noise, even if that noise was a moan. When none came, after several minutes, Max let out a shaky sigh of relief and concluded that not only was Alec not with someone else but he wasn't in his apartment at all. She turned quickly and fled, once again not knowing her destination.

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Alec slowed his pace to a gentle jog as Crash came into view. He waited for a few moments outside to regain his breath and composure before entering. Once going inside, Alec was immediately surround by smoke, noise and people. Not a good combination when you were trying to single someone out. Alec stood and surveyed the crowd for a few moments before spotting O.C and Sketchy in their preferred seating near the pool tables in the back area of the room. Quickly making his way over, Alec couldn't help the knot in his stomach that tightened at the realization that Max was not with them like usual. He tried to remain calm.

"Hey boo, how is ya suga?" O.C queried in a slightly slurred fashion as Alec approached her.

Despite that fact that Alec was dealing with his friends he reverted to his training and kept his conversation short and to the point.

"Fine O.C, have you seen Max?"

After staring at Alec like she'd never seen him before in her life, despite greeting him only a moment ago, O.C began to ponder his question. It was at this lull in the conversation that Sketchy decided to join in.

"Yo Alec my man, how's it hanging?" he asked, whilst swaying gently where he stood, desperately trying to look like he wasn't going to be sick at any moment. 'Two heads are better than one' Alec thought to himself as he repeated his question to Sketchy,

"Have you seen Max?"

"Max?" Sketchy echoed looking confused, "Is she blonde?"

Alec sighed. He was quickly getting frustrated with his so-called friends. Were they always this difficult or was it simply because they were plastered?

Alec was jolted out of his thoughts by O.C calling his name.

"Alec," she slurred, "What was the question again?"

Alec clenched his fists at his sides and could feel his temperature starting to rise.

"Have. You. Seen. Max?" he asked slowly, as O.C nodded her head with each word spoken as if that helped her to take them in better.

"Max?" she asked

Alec raised his eyes to the heavens and mumbled "Oh for the love of…" but he was interrupted once again by O.C

"I think she went home"

'Bingo' Alec thought as he turned and fled his two drunken friends and the confines of the bar. Once outside again, Alec took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. The cool night air calmed his nerves somewhat and he once again took off, this time to Max's apartment.

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Alec's apartment was only slightly further away from Crash then her own and Max took only a few minutes to reach the bar.  Wasting no time, she quickly headed straight in and made her way to the back of the room where she had left O.C and Sketchy only an hour before. Her gamble paid off as she found her two friends playing pool, or trying to at least. Max pulled O.C over to one side and asked,

"Have you seen Alec?"

"Hey boo" O.C replied, as if not hearing Max's question at all

"Hi" Max returned curtly with an expectant look on her face

O.C's facial expression changed to one of confusion

"Something the matter Max?" she asked sweetly

Max started to repeat her question but was interrupted by Sketchy

"Hey Max, You're not blonde!" he stated rather proudly

Max simply gave him a confused look. She then took both her friends by a shoulder and shook them gently in order to gain their full attention.

"Have you seen Alec?" she asked them both

"He went…" Sketchy trailed off and glanced over to O.C, willing her to provide the rest of the answer

"Home?" O.C added with a shrug.

Max sighed and realized that her friends her going to be of little help to her in their current condition. She also knew that Alec wasn't at home as she had been there only moments ago. 'So where now?' she asked herself. Max needed to think and there was only one place where she did her best thinking. She hastily made her way out of the bar and headed in the direction of her new destination.

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Alec let out a few shaky breaths before knocking on Max's door. Bouncing quickly from one foot to another Alec was getting impatient.

"Come on Max, I know you're in there" he yelled, pounding on the door once more. Alec was extremely surprised when the door wasn't yanked open and a scowling Max didn't yell at him. "Max?" he yelled again and strained to hear some sort of movement from within the apartment. It was unlikely that she was asleep, Alec thought to himself. Perhaps she wasn't home, after all his sources weren't the most credible. 'Where could she be?" he pondered. Max was quite a predictable creature, at least to Alec she was, and there were usually only a few places that she would be. Jam Pony, crash, her apartment, Joshua's, Logan's and the space needle and Alec had already effectively ruled out 4 of them. Max very rarely set foot into Logan's apartment since they ended their non-existent relationship several months ago and Joshua was still keeping to himself after losing Annie. 'Who in their right mind would want to be at work at this time or any other time for that matter' Alec asked himself as he ruled out yet another option. That left only one choice and Alec quickly made his way out of Max's apartment block and towards the final choice, the space needle.

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Max made her way through the shrubs that hid the entrance to the space needle and climb effortlessly to the top. She sat on the cool metal surface and stared out at the city sights below. The lights were sprinkled randomly throughout the city and it looked like a blanket of stars covered the ground. Glancing up at the sky, Max noted that it was quite a clear night and that a lot of stars were shining brightly for a change. Welcoming the opportunity to relax a bit, Max lay back and let the cool surface of the needle surround and infiltrate both her body and her senses. She immediately felt relaxed and was content just to look up at the stars. Thoughts of her crazy, run around evening filtered through her mind and were accompanied by just the slightest hint of doubt. Did the song she heard at crash really hold an underlying message about her relationship with Alec? Or was she simply tired and over reacting? If she was really meant to bare her soul to Alec this evening, why was it so hard for her to find him? Surely that was a sign? Suddenly feeling incredibly tired and overwhelmed, Max closed her eyes, let her body relax even more and let the cool night air wash over and soothe her.

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Alec made his way through the bushes in much the same way that Max had several minutes ago. 'There's no bike' he observed which meant Max wasn't here. 'Not necessarily' his mind countered itself, it was, after all a nice night, so perhaps Max had opted to walk. After all, cats like to prowl. Alec made his way to the top of the needle but stopped dead in his tracks when he caught sight of Max lying on the ground, eyes closed, obviously enjoying the surroundings. He suddenly felt scared. Should he really tell her how he felt? Was that really a good idea and, if so, was now really the right time? She looked so peaceful and Alec was apprehensive about disturbing her.

"Max" he breathed in a soft whisper, not realizing that he had actually spoken her name out loud.

'Funny' Max thought, she could've sworn she'd just heard her name. 'Must just be the wind' she rationalized but quickly realized that there was no wind tonight. Max raised herself gently off the ground and saw Alec standing in the doorway to the needle staring at her.

"Alec" she whispered in return, unsure of whether she was dreaming or not. Alec noiselessly made his way over to Max and sat down beside her. He never took his eyes off her and she was returning his gaze intently.

"Alec," she whispered again, "you're really here," she added, blinking for good measure to back up her words. Alec was surprised when Max took one of his hands in hers and used her other hand to gently stroke his cheek. His body reacted instantly and moved into her touch, causing the smile that was toying with the corners of Max's mouth to break through and appear fully. Alec couldn't help but smile himself as Max's hand lingered for a few more seconds before coming to rest onto of their other intertwined hands. Alec slowly looked down at their hands then back up at Max who had her head tilted to the side and was still smiling at him.

From the moment Alec had sat down beside her, Max had felt calmed. All the thoughts of doubts and what-if's that were racing through her mind had vanished the moment she looked into Alec's eyes. Max was feeling relaxed, calm, happy and, most importantly, ready to bare her soul to the man she loved. The two had spent several minutes simply sitting together, holding hands and gazing at one another.  It appeared as if there was an unspoken understanding between the two, that to speak would break the magic of the moment they were sharing and neither one of them wanted to do that. Alec couldn't help but notice the extra twinkle in Max's chocolate brown depths as she stared into his. He tilted his head to the side, as if to question her. Max let out a laugh that was soft and full of happiness.

"I have to tell you something" Max whispered to Alec

"Really?" he replied with great interest, "Because I have to tell you something too"

This, in turn, sparked Max's interest, prompting her to say, "Ok, you first"

"Nuh uh Maxie, you go first"

Max laughed, as did Alec. As with all of their previous arguments as proof, both of them knew that neither was going to be the first to back down so they settled on a compromise.

"Ok, Max, you pick a number between 1 and 10 and if… no sorry when I pick that number you have to go first" he said with a cocky grin on his face obviously full of confidence in his ability. Max let out a laugh and broke the contact between their hands for the first time as she punched Alec lightly in the shoulder.

"Ok," Max said as her eyes darted from side to side, trying not to give herself away, "what's my number?"

"5" Alec said with a triumphant grin on his face as Max's face said it all. Her mouth had dropped open, her eyes had grown wide and she was in complete and utter shock.

"How did you know?" she asked softly, still reeling from the shock of Alec actually picking her number.

"I know you" Alec replied simply with a shrug

A line of the song that had affected Max the most earlier in the night at crash, immediately came into her mind. To know you is to love you and before Max knew what she was doing she blurted out

"I love you"

Now it was Alec's turn to be in shock. 'He's not saying anything, that can't be good' Max thought as she watched Alec intently to gage his reaction. 'She's not saying anything else' Alec thought, 'maybe that means that she really does mean it?'

The intensity and surprise of having all his dreams come true at once had taken Alec a little longer to grasp than he realised. Max had taken his silence and look of total shock as a sure sign that Alec didn't feel the same way as her and not only had she'd made a complete fool of herself but she'd also ruined there friendship as well. 'That's just great' Max thought bitterly as she tore her hands away from Alec's, jumped up and fled. Alec had finally come to out of his sense of shock to see Max leaving as fast as she could, causing him to jump up and yell "MAX…WAIT" while quickly running after her.

TBC

A/N: I don't know if any of you have been in the situation where you've had to try and get information out of a drunken friend, but believe me, it's not easy. They'll tell you everything, and I mean absolutely everything! Except what you want to know. LOL frustrating is an understatement.