The meaning of the runes

By Sinful Starlet

Disclaimer: everybody! "Not mine, never will be, wish it was, etc etc"!

Rating: PG-13 / R - I'll warn in advance of any rating changes

Summary: Alternate take on events around and following 'Love Amongst the Runes' - certain aspects of the storylines around that time really bugged me! Basically Max discovers the runes, but they aren't quite as unique as she thought. What do they mean and what will that revelation mean to her and the ones she loves?

Author's note: right - chapter three. Bit longer than the last couple of chapters, but I couldn't bear to break this one up! Story continues anyway - aftermath of the whole 'photographing runes' thing, and an interesting new side to Alec emerges. Oh and for all of you that guessed that it's Alec that gets the runes as well, I'm not talking about that yet! Hope ya like it anyway! *SS*

3

Max had meant to take the photos over to Logan right after Alec had left but somehow she hadn't been able to talk herself into doing it. Things had been getting more and more tense between them during the last couple weeks. Of course this was entirely because Max had told Logan that she was seeing Alec now, but that didn't make her feel any better. It would have been better if he'd been mad, she thought, if he could have shown any kind of emotion, but he hadn't.

Well at the time, shock seemed to be the major theme, but afterwards… She'd left it a few days before she'd called him, giving him time to get used to the idea, or something like that anyway. Then when she finally did, he wasn't angry, upset - he wasn't anything really, just cold and distant. The closest they'd come to a normal conversation since was when she showed him the first set of runes over the vid link, but given Alec's presence, Logan was still fairly quiet.

She was really starting to worry. She'd badgered Alec till he told her absolutely every word that was said when he had gone over to tell Logan the truth about Max's lie - though he hadn't in the end, going along with it for her sake. For the first time in ages, Max had absolutely no idea what was going through Logan's head, and that had her really worried. She knew he would be upset - it wasn't like he had liked Alec that much before, let alone now, but he just refused to let it show.

She'd considered telling him the truth about a hundred times since then, but each time she had managed to talk herself out of it, just hoping Logan would eventually get past it and they'd be able to at least maintain a friendship, if nothing else. Oh well, at least Alec was still ok around her, and she almost laughed at how comforting that was now. In spite of all the weirdness of her situation with Logan, and the growing issue of White and the 'war' on transgenic, Alec had become something of a touchstone. True, he could still be a complete pain in the ass sometimes, but she had to admit, she didn't know what she would have done lately without him to jolly her along.

*

In the end, Max had gone into work before going to Logan's - needing something to put her energy into to take her mind off everything else that was going on. She knew the moment that she walked in that Alec had kept his promise because Normal said nothing whatsoever to her about being late, although he did look at her a little strangely. Alec was already out on a run so she didn't get the chance to speak to him then, so she just grabbed a few packages of her own and set off on a run.

*

So it was about 6.30 by the time Max finally arrived at Joshua's old place to see Logan. She mentally slapped herself as she reached the door, she had been so nervous she had even thought of knocking. She shook off the impulse and just stepped inside, shouting hello so he would know that it was her. Predictably he was sitting in front of a computer screen as she walked into the 'living room', and it took him a few seconds before he even looked up at her.

"Hey Max", he said finally, still cold and distant, and not looking at all pleased to see her. He closed the notebook he had been writing in and stood up, walking round to stand in front of her, "did you want something?" "Logan--", Max started, understanding why he was upset, but just needing him not to be mad with her right now. Luckily, Logan did seem to grasp that he'd gone a little too far this time, his expression softening and an apologetic tone colouring his next few words.

"I'm sorry Max", he said simply. "It's ok", Max said, quickly, though she couldn't help smiling a little, "how you getting on here? I know it's not exactly the Ritz but--". "It's fine", Logan said, cutting her off, "dry and warm, y'know". He was about to ask, 'how are you?' when Max started speaking at exactly the same time, saying 'how are you really?' They both managed weak smiles at this, Max gesturing for Logan to speak first. "I'm fine", he said, "been busy trying to get Eyes Only back up and running, tracking down a few leads on those runes you found".

This got Max's attention if nothing else did. "And did you find anything?", she asked. "Not really", Logan said, moving back to the desk and sitting down again, pulling up the original video captures he'd got from her, "but I found a place to start". "The language is a form of ancient Minoan", he explained, "certain characters are recognisable", he added, pointing to a few of the symbols on the screen. "But there's not really enough here to get an accurate translation - well that and the fact that no one has ever fully translated the alphabet to begin with".

"Figures!", Max said under her breath, catching the smile this brought to Logan's face too. Time seemed to slow down for a second, it took her a moment to realise that he was looking at her gloved hand resting on the edge of the desk, his own hand edging towards hers, "Max---", he started but she interrupted, moving her hand to take the photos out of her jacket pocket. "Maybe these'll help", she said, dropping them on the desk, all too aware of the awkwardness of the moment that had just passed between them.

Apparently Logan was too, as she saw an unreadable expression cross his face before he recovered himself and picked up the photos and started leafing through them. "There's a lot of new groupings here", he said after a minute had passed, "these all appeared last night?" "Yeah", Max answered, "we just found them this morning". It was said before she even realised what it was that she had actually just said, but apparently the slip of 'we' in that sentence wasn't as lost on Logan as she would have liked.

It took him another minute before he answered, and when he did he wasn't looking at her, but he did eventually say, "So Alec took the pictures?" "Logan--", Max started, a pleading tone in her voice, the last thing she wanted to do was upset him again, but it seemed a bit late for considerations like that. "Forget it Max", Logan said quickly, "not my business, right?" He couldn't even sound cruel as he said it, the words weren't harsh or bitter, just……sad.

"Okay", he said, standing up and moving over to the scanner he had on a nearby table, loading the photos into it and setting it to capture all the new images. "I'll get to work on these as soon as", he said, all business, "I'll call you if I find anything". "Right", Max said, still waiting for him to turn back and face her. She waited a good two minutes, but he obviously had said all he meant to so she disappointedly walked away, heading for the door.

She was almost outside again when she heard his voice calling her back, "Max?" "Yeah?", she said, trying not to sound too eager as she walked back into the living room. "In case I don't get the chance to say it again any time soon…", he started, pausing for a second. "Yes?", Max asked, taking another couple of steps towards him. "…be careful?", Logan said, a somewhat pained smile on his face. "Always", Max said, smiling reassuringly back at him, "you got my back, right?"

The mood changed in a second, Max mentally kicking herself for not remembering in time, the last time they had exchanged those words. Logan didn't seem able to answer so she just waved uneasily and walked quickly towards the door. Even her genetically enhanced hearing couldn't have caught Logan's eventual reply. The words were barely more than a whisper, but they were there, "Always, Max".

*

Max took the long way back to TC, she had been going there most nights for the past couple of weeks. More and more transgenics were arriving by the day and somehow she seemed to have ended up as unofficial leader of the TC community. Not that there had been a vote or anything, it just happened that Joshua and Dix, and even Mole had started coming to her to report in every night, and everyone else seemed to have followed their example.

She arrived to find the place unusually noisy that night, so she made her over to the command centre quickly, trying to find out what was going on. She found Joshua and Dix at the hub (where all their computer equipment was hooked up) playing what turned out to be chess. She smiled at Joshua who appeared to winning, and was about to make her way over to him when she heard another chorus of shouts from the other end of the warehouse they were using as headquarters. "What's that all about?", she asked to no one in particular. "Your boy's giving a few lessons in urban combat", Mole said, as he emerged into the middle of the 'room', "hell, he's not bad for an X series!"

The 'your boy' had already got her attention, but now she really needed to see what was going on. She walked past Mole, climbing down the ladder to the ground level where the noise was coming from and squeezing her way through the crowds that were congregating there. As soon as she got to the front she could see what all the fuss was about. Alec, (of course it was Alec) was standing in the middle of a circle formed by the crowds around him, systematically taking on opponent after opponent - and causing some serious damage.

Max had seen him fight before, hell, she'd fought him herself, and she'd never seen him like this. He was kicking ass in a major way - X5s, a few X6s, anyone that was dumb enough to try didn't seem to last longer than a few seconds. And he didn't even look like he was breaking a sweat. His light grey t-shirt was fairly moulded to his torso, in a way that Max wasn't hating at all, and it was bone-dry. He didn't seem to have noticed her, he just kept calling out numbers, which evidently meant something to the crowds around, as different transgenics rushed forward at each new number.

Then something changed. A group of males (X5 by the look of them) all rushed Alec at once. Max immediately pulled her jacket off and meant to jump in and help him, but as she was astonished to see - he didn't need any help - at all. In less than thirty seconds, three of the attackers were on the ground, the fourth, pinned down in a hold Max didn't recognise, only seconds later. "Okay", Alec said, eventually letting the guy go and helping him to stand up, "I think that's probably about enough for tonight, but keep working on your moves, a couple of you are looking a little sloppy on your defence".

The general noise level started to rise again after the awed hush that had descended during the last fight, and the assembled crowd of transgenics started to disperse. More than one, Max noted sporting minor injuries, nothing serious, but enough to leave a mark the next day. It was only at this moment that Alec noticed Max, looking somewhat surprised to see her. Max struggled to think of what to say at first. She'd known he was strong, but they all were, and she had never seen an X5 take on more than one X5 opponent at once, after all, they weren't designed to be able to fight each other.

And yet Alec had beaten down four X5 males, and the only result seemed to be that he was breathing a little more heavily than usual. Eventually the only thing Max could think of saying was, "What was that?" "Come on, Max", Alec said, walking over to a chair by the wall and retrieving his sweater and pulling it back over his head, "you know as well as I do - something's brewing. We've got a fight coming, whether we want to admit or not, I'm just making sure everyone gets a little training in".

"What? You don't like the idea?", he asked then, seeing as he had got no response before. "No, I think it's a great idea", Max said, still trying to get over her surprise, "but that's not exactly what I meant". "Oh?", Alec said, prompting her to go on, falling into step beside her as they walked back towards the hub. "Come on, Alec", she said, mimicking him, "you know what I mean". Whether he did or not, he managed to look quite appealingly clueless. She bit back her smile and tried again, "Those were X5s right?". He nodded, still apparently not following her.

"Alec you took on four X5s single-handed?", Max asked, somewhat incredulously. "So?", Alec said, stopping for a second, still not understanding what she was saying. Max stopped too then, trying to figure out whether he was actually being serious, but however long she waited, no smirk appeared, no laugh… "So", she said eventually, "I've never seen anyone take on four X5s at once - let alone beat them all!" The smirk did appear this time, though it disappeared when he saw that she actually wasn't joking, "Really?"

"Really!", Max went on, still trying to reconcile herself to the truth, "I mean, back when we were kids, even last September (AN - I have no idea if this actually was in September, I'm making it up!) when I got taken back to Manticore - all the fights I watched…", she stopped herself before she added, "all the times I fought, I could never take on more than one X5 at once". "Well", Alec hesitated, lost as to what to say for a minute, "I guess I have got ten years training over you, but--". He trailed off anyway, but Max was already cutting in, "Were you holding back?"

"What?", Alec asked, genuinely confused now. Max rolled her eyes, but she went on, "In the cage fight - were you holding back? Did you let me win?" Alec definitely hesitated this time, and his silence was all the proof she needed. "You were", she said, pre-empting his answer. "Well, yeah", Alec said, reluctantly adding, "weren't you?" He guessed that might not have been his best move because Max looked away before she answered, "No", came her reply, and her voice suddenly seemed very small.

"Hey", Alec said softly, moving to stand in front of her, and gently lifting her chin so she was looking at him, "so maybe I'm stronger than you - does the world really have to come crashing down because of that?" "That's not even it", Max said, lifting her head away from his fingers that stilled lingered underneath her chin, "don't you see Alec? You're stronger than every transgenic I've ever met". "Well can't we just say 'yay me' for now, and come back to what it all means later?", Alec asked, trying to break her out of the serious mood she had gotten herself into, which was starting to get to him too.

"I guess", Max said, unable to stop herself smiling at that typically Alec remark, "yay you!" "Damn straight!", Alec said, smirk firmly reattached. They walked on a few more paces, neither saying anything, although the sudden discovery of Alec's strength was preying on both their minds. "So", Alec said, more to break the silence than anything else, "did you go see…", he trailed off, leaving her an out if she wanted to say that she didn't want to talk about it. "Logan?", Max finished, her smile disappearing as rapidly as it arrived. Alec cursed inwardly, he still seemed to be suffering from a fairly serious case of FIM (Foot In Mouth) syndrome!

"It was…", Max started, not sure why she needed him to hear this, but feeling at the same time that she had to tell him. "It's ok", Alec cut in, "you don't have to…". "…a little intense", Max said, interrupting him this time, sighing a little, "everything's just screwed up right now". 'Nice one', Alec thought to himself, 'really lightened the atmosphere there didn't you?' Max had lapsed into silence again, so, hoping she wasn't gonna kick his ass for this, he loosely rested his arm round her shoulders, "Hey, at least you've still got me Max!"

He felt her shoulders shake a little, realising a little too late that it was from suppressed laughter, "Not much of a consolation is it?", she muttered under her breath. "Hey!", he said, pulling his arm away from her and giving her his best injured puppy-dog expression, "Max you wound me, you really do!" Max laughed in spite of herself, slapping his arm as she walked past him, "Come on, wound boy - I'll let you buy me dinner!"

Right, well, that was chapter three! Hope ya liked it - blimey, I was almost verging on M/L there for a moment! Rest assured, your normal M/A service will be resumed very shortly - like I could stay away from that boy for long! Oh and about the whole 'added strength' thing - trust me, I'm going somewhere with this! *SS*