A/N: Ah, a little bit of romance stuff for Max. Any ideas about how to get this pairing together would be greatly appreciated. :)
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Chapter twenty-seven: New Hope
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'When are you gonna let your face in on the good news?'
-O.C. (Proof of Purchase)
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'And then I find you here
Through your eyes
Everything's clear
And I am home
Inside your arms'
-Staind (Safe Place)
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"I can't believe you're here!" Max hugged Jace tightly with a huge smile on her face.
Jace shrugged after she pulled back "Family sticks together and it's better for little Max to be amongst his own."
The Max in question was being passed around the other sisters, all making baby noises that made little Max frown at them with confusion. The males of course, were staying way back from the kid. They were all too manly to go all gooey over a baby.
Alec walked into HQ just as Jace opened her mouth to say something else. Jace's mouth snapped shut and she went rigid.
"494" she greeted emotionlessly. She was in soldier mode.
"At least we don't need to go over the Ben thing" Max said quietly as Alec smiled and approached them.
"Zack told me what happened when he gave me the contact number" Jace replied calmly "494's my CO."
"Not anymore 798" Alec shrugged "I'm the SIC here, Max is CO. Everyone calls me Alec." He held out his hand.
Jace immediately relaxed and smiled, shaking his hand "Everyone calls me Jace."
Alec nodded before he noticed the kid. "So that's why you left." He sounded surprised.
He shrugged and turned back to Max "Erin's okay. Josh's with her."
"Good. She still hasn't changed her mind?" Max looked hopeful.
Alec shook his head "She's not going to do it. I've told her she doesn't have to either. If you knew what she's been through, you'd know that messin' with her head isn't the best thing to do."
Max nodded, disappointed. Then she remembered what Erin had said. "She knew who Jace was before I introduced her."
"She did?" Alec sounded even more surprised this time "She said she was probably gonna continue to remember stuff."
Max shrugged "I think we should just let it happen."
Alec shrugged again and wandered off to talk to Dix.
Half an hour later
Max didn't know what was wrong with her. She knew that she wasn't in heat so it must be something else. Jace had gone to talk to Tawney and Lee, and Max had sat back in a chair content to watch the family reunion. There definitely had to be something wrong with her. She forced herself to look away yet again. Was she insane? Was she mentally ill in someway?
It had started when Jace had handed him little Max. Unlike the other males who had now had to go through this, he had calmly held the child in his arms as if he'd done it a thousand times before.
Little Max had stopped his fidgeting and stared up at him with curious eyes. A minute later, one tiny hand rested on a muscled bicep, and the other on his muscled chest, little Max had laid his head down on his shoulder and closed his eyes. Smiling, he had rubbed little Max's back soothingly and little Max had almost instantly gone to sleep.
Max smiled at the scene. She remembered when he'd held her like that, making her feel so warm and safe. She wished for a second that she could have that feeling back. He caught her eyes and smiled at her. Max blinked and looked away again. No, she could never feel like that again, not when she felt like this.
Every time she looked at him, she got this warm fluttery feeling in her stomach that threatened to bubble up and make her giggle. It was seriously weird.
The truth hit her so hard that if she'd been standing up, she'd have fainted. She was attracted to him. This was wrong, so, so wrong. How was she going to be able to work around him now? Closing her eyes, Max sighed. She was in trouble. How the hell did she become attracted to him of all people? It was HIM! She'd known him most of her life, he'd been there to look after her whenever he could. He'd even DIED for her!!! How the hell did she become attracted to Zack?
Next Chapter: Ghost Roads…
"Soon battles will be fought."… "Lines will blur and people will die. It is the natural chaos of things."
A/N: So… what do you guys think? There'll be more action soon and more Alec/Erin stuff, I'm not gonna leave it there.
Marty: I don't think I need to plan any speeches anytime soon dude; besides, you've seen me in class. Public speaking is not my thing. And Max getting with Zack would not be a bad thing, it would mean Logan humiliation.
Messymissy: Well, there you have it. Whatcha think? I couldn't help the Josh interruption. I'm making it last longer so I can get more thoughts and stuff into it.
Moonlight: Me? Run out of ideas? NEVER!! *grins* don't worry, this story has a while to go yet.
MaxCat452: *small voice* Sorry. As you can tell with this chapter, I have a little something planned for Max and Zack… Well, kind of anyway.
