Name: The Realization That You're In love.
Author: merykey X-5 495
E-Mail: merykey_x5283@yahoo.com
Summary: Alec realizes that he loves someone, but she has a boyfriend. M/A. After HG & DDA and before SAH & LATR.
Disclaimer: The characters of Dark Angel do not belong to me. They belong to a guy named James and I think the other's one name is something like Eglee or something like that.
Author's Note I: Oh, man! I thought I would never finish this chapter. Is the longest chapter I've ever done, but then again I just copied and patted most of the things =0P. Well, I wanna thank to: Gemma, Cloudburst, MM, Msredux, LaVito, Spooky and Suki, of course. Well, Enjoy!! And review, of course =0P

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Chapter 23

After every transgenic was given an assignment, Alec asked Dalton to help him with his wound. The older X series, with the gun he took from Normal, got rid of his jacket the best he could and waited for Dalton to come back with the emergency kit, in Normal's office.

The bullet had gone right through his shoulder though no important damage was done. Dalton disinfected the wound and then tried to bandage it.

Max was watching through the window and then, sick of the 'pig farm', went to see how Gem was, and passed by Dalton and Alec and saw the X-5´s wound.

"What's that?" she asked a little worried.

"It's a hole in my body made by a bullet" Alec answered coldly.

Max saw this and thought he was just acting like this ´cause he was nervous just like the rest. "Been there, done that. Does it hurt?"

"No" he simply answered.

"Ok... go watch the news, ok?"

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It's been less than an hour since an unknown number of armed transgenics and transhumans barricaded themselves inside this building, the offices of the Jam Pony messenger service, but already angry crowds have gathered, shouting anti-transgenic slogans.

Just moments ago, an unknown woman apparently commandeered a hover drone. She somehow rode it over the police cordon and into the building in which the suspects are barricaded. Police believe that the woman is also a transgenic, apparently come to the aid of the suspects inside.

Somewhere in Seattle a superhero is getting ready to save the day, putting on his superhero suit.... Oh! No... Sorry, that's just Logan putting on his exoskeleton. (sighing) He and his Transgenic-wanna-be complex.

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"How's it look?" asked Max to Logan who was outside, among the crowd, talking to a small phone that consisted of only a earpiece and a small microphone. She was peering out through the partly open gate of Jam Pony. Their ride was already there.

"I don't know; it's dicey. We got shooters on the roof and the bus door's on the exposed side" answered Logan.

"Yeah, looks pretty messy."

"All right, you're going to have to use the messengers as shields."

"Okay" she said sighing, then yelled at the cops, "Clemente! I'm gonna need the snipers on the roof pulled back, or no deal!"

The shooters pulled back.

"All right, you're clear." said Logan.

"Wish me luck" and hanged up. She yelled at the cops again, "First group's coming out!" and nodded Alec to open the gate completely.

The messengers left following Clemente's orders. "This way. Come this way. Keep your hands in the air. Come towards the barricades. Okay, 452, the keys are in the vehicle. Your ball."

"Okay, guys. They're not going to shoot at us. We got a kid and a pregnant girl. They don't know which ones are transgenic and which aren't" said Max to the resting messengers and the transgenics.

"Yeah, well, a couple of us they got a pretty good idea." said Mole, grabbing Normal to use him as a shield. Normal was about to crap on his pants.

"They saw you, boo..." said Cindy to Max, "flyin' right over their heads. I got you" and the girl put Max's arm around her.

"Thanks" Max said to her friend.

"They don't know about me" Cece said to Cindy and Max... suddenly Max got a funny feeling in her stomach... She felt like she had already lived this...

"Then help me protect my boy here" Cindy said referring to Alec. Max was quiet. Then she snapped out of it and concentrated on getting her people and her ex-co-workers out of there alive.

"All right, let's file in, guys. Come on."

And finally they went out of Jam Pony, Gem and Dalton in the middle, Mole and Normal on the front along with Max and Cindy. Alec and Cece were a couple of steps away. Everything's gonna be fine, everything's gonna be fine, every... Oh my God! The dream.

Max stopped and yelled, "Everybody in... GET BACK IN!!"

Alec was staring at her just like Mole and the rest thinking What the hell..? when Logan jumped over a police car yelling "Max!" and shooting his gun to the air... Then the shooting started, but everybody was already safe inside Jam Pony, except for Mole and Alec who were still shooting to the snipers.

Logan entered Jam Pony along with Alec, Mole and Biggs... Biggs?? Where did he come from?

He was with Logan outside. After Cece called base and reported their situation, Biggs had to be there to help, and well, he found Mighty Logan there.

"Cover the door! Anyone hit?" she asked in general. Then she approached Alec, who was next by the door "Are you ok?"

He didn't even look at her, "Yeah" though he found her reaction very strange.

"Cece? You ok?"

"Yeah, Max."

"All right, get down. I want everybody on the floor, now. Get down. Stay there. Stay down" Mole told the messengers.

"They tried to kill us" Cindy said.

"Go take care of Gem" Max said to Cindy. They couldn't panic right now.

"Why did they do this? We did everything they wanted" Joshua said.

"This is on you. I told you not to trust the cops" Mole said making Max responsible for everything.

"It wasn't the cops" Logan said, "It was White."

They all looked surprised. All of them thought they were just dealing with cops... Now it was White. That was even more complicated. That meant they weren't leaving from Jam Pony alive.

"They screwed this whole thing up on purpose to escalate the situation" Max said, now understanding why it had happened.

"Yeah, well, it worked" Alec added.

"What difference does it make who fired? They all want to see us dead!" Mole said to the little group.

"Everybody needs to calm down" Logan told Mole.

"I'm not gonna wait around for them to try again" the lizard guy said grabbing Sketchy by the back of his neck.

"Whoa!"

"What are you doing?" Max said almost yelling grabbing Mole's arm, but the lizard was a little bit stronger than she was, than any X-5.

"Until we get safe passage, we kill one hostage every hour, starting now" Mole answered.

"Let him go!" Logan yelled. Damn ordinary. I mean don't get me wrong, I really like Sketchy, but... it's none of your business! He's doing all of this for a girl who doesn't love him... Damn Logan.

"I don't take orders from your kind."

"No, but you take orders from me. Now let him go" Max ordered Mole.

"No! We gotta show them we mean business, or we're dead!" Mole told her.

"That's a good idea. Start shooting people, 'cause that's what White wants, and then you can prove you're the monster people think you are." Logan told him sarcastically.

"Shut up! You're not one of us!"

"All right, people, listen up! If we don't stick together, we don't get out of here alive," Max said to all of them, "You understand that?" now only to Mole.

"Okay," Mole said as he released Sketchy, "Okay. But if they come near the building, I start taking them out. Come on, Joshua."

And saying that he walked away, along with Joshua.

"Joshua...?" Max said. She couldn't believe this. Joshua was against her.

"Thanks, guys. That was close." Sketchy said rubbing his neck.

Alec was standing next to Max, just like Biggs, Cece and Logan, and had seen that Joshua leaving Max behind.

"We can't fall apart, we have to stay together" Max said almost in a whisper.

A hand on her shoulder comforted her, "I'll talk to them" Alec said from behind her. She nodded and Alec went after the two transhumans.

"Josh! Josh! Wait up!"

Joshua and Mole stopped at Lace's yelling.

"What you guys doing??"

"Look, pretty boy--"

"Pretty boy my ass, Mole! Just cut the crap and stop acting like that, because your attitude is gonna get us killed!"

"She can't... She´s taking that sucker's advise... She´s gonna get us killed." Mole told Alec.

"Look, I don't like the idea of Logan being here any more than you do, but I do trust Max, I believe she can get us out of here in one piece... But if you two don't help, if we don't stay together, they're gonna kill us." And saying this Alec went back to where the scared messengers were.

Joshua and Mole looked at each other.

Meanwhile...

"Oh, SHIT! What tha HELL are YOU doing here??"

"Gem?" Max asked turning to the girl who had screamed.

"365?" said Biggs not believing his eyes... His breeding partner!... Pregnant... Oh...My...God!

"472!! What tha hell are you doing here?!!!" Gem asked again as she could between the pain moans.

Biggs was frozen, his eyes looking at Gem's swollen stomach.

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ONE HOUR AND TWENTY-THREE MINUTES LATER

The night had fall over Seattle's streets, and people was still outside Jam Pony, just like the police.

Everybody was tired and nervous. Max was looking out of the window, trying to find White, but no success with that. White was there which meant this wasn't going to end very nice, and all because of what? Her? The stupid runes?

"It's me White wants. I'm going out there" Max said to Logan.

Alec, who was near by, rose his eyes and looked at Max in shock. What?

"No way" Logan said.

"He wants this thing to end as badly as possible, and I'm not gonna let that happen."

"Max, you're not going out there."

"I have to."

"Max, listen to me. After you left, I translated the new runes on your skin. I think it's complete now. The symbols have multiple meanings, but the gist is something like, 'When the shroud of death covers the face of the earth, the one whose power is hidden will deliver the helpless'."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Max asked.

"It means something really, really bad, like maybe biblically bad, is going to happen" Logan answered.

"And you're the one who's gonna stop it" Cindy said.

"Look. If all of this is about White getting Max, I mean, specifically Max, then I think she should go out there" Mole stated.

Max finally understood why Renfro had taken a bullet for her nine months ago, why White was on her ass, the cult... her dream, Sandeman, everything was connected.

"Forget it" Logan said.

Alec was way far from stepping into the conversation, Don't say anything, don't say a fucking a thing, let them deal with whatever they want to do, just... stay put... stay... Damn!

"What??" Alec said stepping in.

"Look," Mole said to both of them, "she makes a break for it, let him see her. She's fast; she has a chance at making it."

"Nope" Logan answered.

Why are they discussing this? Max is the one who has to decide this... Alec passed the two men who were discussing Max future, and stopped in front of her.

She wasn't listening to anyone, she was like gone.

"Then he'll leave us alone because he knows she's gone."

"No. No. Out of the question, Mole!"

Alec looked at Max's eyes, "Max?"

"Wake up, chimp! We're out of options here!"

Her body felt numb...

"No, you wake up. If she is the key to saving millions of people from some kind of apocalypse--"

Everything her eyes saw was in slow motion... Alec was holding her by the shoulder, and she could hear his distant voice calling her name.

"Your people or my people?"

Was this what people felt before dying? Though she couldn't place what it was. Complete peace? Numbness? Was she going crazy? Her senses were connected with everything... she could feel everything... smell everything... hear everything.

"People! Human beings, like you and me!"

She turned around, away from Alec's grip. She heard them... White out side. '...the hostages?' 'Let's show the viewers at home what the mutant menace does to innocent people. Take out the hostages, the freaks, the kid...take out anything with a pulse.'

She turned around again, "They're coming" she told Alec first, "They're coming. Carry Gem. Come on, let's go!"

"I don't hear anything" Mole said.

Alec signaled Dalton, and the boy signaled him back. Everything was okay outside.

"Shah! Joshua, you carry Gem."

"Max, we're clear" Alec said.

"Don't argue with me" Max answered, and then she looked at his eyes. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to do that again. The familiars were attacking, so it was possible some of them wouldn't make it. All she wanted to do was kiss him, but she had to concentrate, just like Alec. They looked at each others eyes and, even though it lasted less than a second, Alec knew what was going to happen; he felt it. "Dalton, let's go. Come on. I need everybody upstairs right now. Let's go. Follow me."

"Come on people, upstairs" Alec told the messengers, followed by Biggs.

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UPSTAIRS JAMPONY

"Come on, guys, file in," Max told the messengers, "Stay low. All the way to the back. Hey, Sketchy, keep 'em quiet, and keep 'em down," then to Cindy, Dalton and Normal, "Take cover behind the desk. Behind the desk. Come on! Hurry up!" and then to Joshua who was still carrying Gem, "Keep her behind the desk. Logan, go with the messengers." (I'm evil =0D!!)

"What?!"

"Logan, don't argue! Do as you are told!" Max told him.

"But Max--"

"Logan! Go!... And give me the gun."

Jam Pony's front door exploded open. Mole and Alec arrived upstairs and Alec closed and locked the door.

"Take cover" said Max to Mole, Joshua, Biggs and Alec.

Alec and Mole were out of munitions, but Biggs discovered that Logan's gun still had some.

"Wait for my signal. When we strike, we strike hard and don't back down. This is for all the marbles people."

A window broke, and four of the Phalanx entered from the ceiling. They searched the place little by little.

Joshua hid in a dark hole, Max, Alec and Mole behind some columns and Biggs was hidden behind a desk.

Max silently signaled to Joshua, Mole, Biggs and Alec. Each one of them gave a thumbs-up in response.

One of the Phalanx opened the door and White and another Phalanx entered.

The six cult loonies kept searching. Three Phalanx and White passed the columns where the transgenics were hidden but they weren't there anymore. One was heading towards the office where the desk Biggs was using to hide was. The last one was on the other side of the room.

Then, Mole, Max, and Alec dropped down from the ceiling and they began fighting the Phalanx. The one who was on the other side of the room was taken by surprise by Joshua and they began to fight.

Biggs stood up and fired at the Phalanx through the glass. The familiar fell to the ground and, discovering that his gun was empty, Biggs jumped through the broken glass and attacked him.

Mole defeated his Phalanx quite easily and fired at White. He ducked as Mole continued shooting at him but a Phalanx grabbed him from behind and pushed him into a shelf.

Alec wasn't doing to well. His wounded shoulder was hurting like hell, the wound had probably opened again, and the fact that the bitch was pretty strong, wasn't helping. She hit him and then she shoved him through a window.

The Phalanx that was fighting with Max lost her helmet. It was Thula, team leader. She and Max circled each other.

"452." Thula said.

"Just bring it." Max answered. This was no cowboy movie. A fierce fight between Max and Thula began. Both women were powerful but only one would win.

After knocking the other Phalanx, Mole started fighting with White.

Meanwhile, Biggs was taking care of the familiar on his own. A few punches on the face, a couple of kicks on the ribs, and a hard fist on the cheekbone would do the trick. The Phalanx fall unconscious on the floor.

"Okay, it's time to push now," Normal's voice was saying to the woman who was about to give birth a child, "Come on. Push push push push push, with all your might, all your might, all your might..."

Everyone kept fighting as a new life was coming into this world. Normal's voice was heard everywhere.

"All right, it's coming. It's coming."

Alec wasn't doing too well, the Phalanx bitch was kicking his ass. She was about to hit him with a mannequin when Biggs came to the rescue. He took her by surprise and knocked her unconscious on the floor.

Joshua, also, took White by surprise while the bad guy was kicking Mole's ass. In that moment he realized that he was standing in front of Annie's murderer. Anger, hate, and rage started flowing through his body. All the big guy wanted to do was make White feel some pain.

"Okay, the baby's coming out. I can see the head. Now you really gotta bear down, now. Really bear down. Time to push now."

Josh broke a desk over White... Familiars are a human species that don't feel pain, but I think that for the first time Ames White was receiving what he deserved. Something he had never experienced before. Pain.

"Go! Push push push push push push push push push!"

A baby cried. A new life had began. An innocent creature between so much hate and pain.

It looked like Thula was winning. She was over Max punching her repeatedly. But Max managed to steel Thula's handcuffs out of her pocket and got one of the cuffs around Thula's wrist. She stood up, pulling Max with her, and tried to choke her. But Max flipped over and stood behind Thula. Max swung Thula by one arm and then handcuffed Thula's other wrist so she was wrapped around the column.

"One more big push. You gotta really crank down. Really crank down, okay?"

The fight was over. The mutants had won. Sandeman knew exactly what he was doing when he made them after all.

"Max! Clear!" Alec yelled handcuffing an unconscious Phalanx.

"Clear!" Mole yelled.

But not everybody were done. Joshua was still with White. The big fella had White's back over his knee, and he was bending him like a toy. The familiar's back cracked.

"Joshua, no. Joshua, no!" Max yelled kneeling by his side.

"He deserves to die! He killed Annie!"

"No. He deserves to die, a lot," Max said, "But if you kill him now, the only thing people will remember about today is how some transgenic killed a human being in cold blood...and then they'll never stop hunting us."

Joshua knew Max was right. Rough months still to come, and if he did this then those months would became a life, an eternity time. And he let White go.

"Bring around your muscle queens anytime," Max told White, who was in the floor, "I'll be happy to kick their ass."

"We are not finished," White said, breathing hard, and with a bloody face.

"Fe'nos tol, ya bitch," Max answered flicking his nose.

The baby was crying. Coming to the world would do that to you. Nine months living in a worm little dark house, with food and all, and then suddenly wake up in a cold world, with bright lights that don't let you open your eyes... It makes you wanna cry, doesn't it?

Biggs heard the baby and run to see his daughter.

"There you go," Normal gave the baby to Gem, "Oh, what a dear little sweet soul."

Gem checked the back of the little girl's neck, "No barcode. She doesn't have one."

"Then she's free." Max told Gem happy.

"Not yet, she ain't." Mole told Max. They weren't out yet.

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"Throw your weapons out and let me see your hands!"

"So what's your plan now?" Mole asked Max. She was sitting in the front next to Logan, who was driving.

"Throw your weapons out now!"

"You heard the man," she finally said.

The others groaned and sighed in defeat.

"Well, this sucks." said Mole.

"I fought the law, and the law won." Alec said.

Throw your weapons out and put your hands where I can see them. Throw them out. Do it!"

They opened the doors of the van and the ambulance and throw their guns out. Then they stepped out with their hands in the air.

"Step away from the vehicle, and keep those hands up. Do it! Put your hands up. Keep them up! Keep those hands up. Step out of the vehicle and keep those hands up. Get down on your knees and put your hands on your head."

Everybody did it... except for Max.

She walked to where Clemente was.

"452?"

"You can call me Max."

"I think you better get down on the ground."

"Actually, I think you should probably go."

"I'm not gonna tell you again."

"I'm not gonna tell you again."

Then almost every Transgenic inside of Terminal City appeared with a gun, and took aim.

"You can try to arrest us all, but you guys might want to call it a night and go have a beer." Max told Clemente.

To the police, "All right. All right, everybody, let's back it up. Let's back it up! Outside the fence! Back it up! Come on, let's move!" Then to Max, "You kept today from turning into a bloodbath, and I respect that."

"You held up your end, too."

"But you haven't won anything. This is gonna get real ugly, and this is way over my head now. These people's lives depend on the decisions that you make right now. I pray you make the right ones...Max." and then he left TC's ground.

"Escape and evade," Mole said, "We divide up into teams, pick an azimuth, and go to ground."

"No, we stay here!" Max yelled.

"In a couple of hours, that perimeter will be completely locked down. Tanks, National Guard, every cop within a hundred miles," Mole contradicted Max.

"Where are we gonna go?" Max started, "I can't stop anyone from leaving, but I'm through running and hiding and being afraid. I'm not gonna live my life like that anymore. Aren't you tired of living in darkness? Don't you want to feel the sun on your face? To have a place of your own where you can walk down the street without being afraid? They made us, and they trained us to be soldiers, to defend this country. It's time for them to face us and take responsibility, instead of trying to sweep us away like garbage. We were made in America and we're not going anywhere. So they call us freaks; who cares? Today I'm proud to be a freak. And today we're gonna make a stand, right here. Who's with me?"

She raised her fist into the air. Joshua did the same and Alec, Biggs, Logan, Cindy and the rest followed. One by one the residents of Terminal City joined Max. Mole was the last to do it.

"What the hell." he said right after joining Max.

They were staying, and they were going to fight for their right to live.

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Author's Note II: Ok, ok, boring, boring, We all know what happens but well, I had to do this chapter. I still have another chapter and then the continuation. So, Review this Ch... PLEASE!!! The end is coming... =0)

Author's Note III: Did anyone see the last episode of Dawson's Creek?? I know, I know, it's kinda late to ask that, but in Argentina the episode was shown last Monday, I just couldn't believe it... Though I loved it. Pacey and Joey forever! Though I hated it too... I really liked Jen, she was my favorite one. Always so honest, and confuse and cynical and feminist and realist... like me in a way... Though when I get nervous I start talking real fast like Ally McBeal... Never mind... Peace!