Seattle Ain't What it Used to Be

Disclaimer-Nothing that has to do with Dark Angel or Dark Angel books belongs to me. Only the parts of the story that I make up are mine.

Summary-Sequel to Reliving Manticore. After escaping, Max and the other transgenics find refuge in Seattle. More people from Max's past start showing up, the humans start finding out about transgenics, a heat experience changes Max and Alec's life and it doesn't help that White is back in the picture.

Pairings-Max/Alec and Syl/Krit. More people will be paired off as the story goes on.

Chapter Four-Back for a Visit

A ray of sunlight fell onto Max's face as she turned over. She groaned but obediently opened her eyes. She rolled onto her back and rubbed her face, her elbow brushing against something. She glanced over and saw Alec's bare back. Max grinned satisfactorily before snuggling up against him. He murmured something incoherent before rolling over so they were face to face. His eyes remained closed as he wrapped his arm around her waist. Max turned her head up and kissed his jawbone. A slow smirk spread across his face.

"You're awake now aren't you?" Max whispered into his ear. He kissed her neck.

"Yeah," he answered. Max quickly hopped out of bed.

"Good. Cause we were supposed to be at work an hour ago," she explained as she hurried to find some clean clothes. Alec groaned and lay face down on the bed, spread-eagled. Max grinned. "Fine. I'll just have to make up a story to tell Normal on my own. Mmm...there could be some kind of oil and a gladiator suit involved..." Alec immediately shot up.

"I'm up. I'm up..."


As soon as Max and Alec walked into Jam Pony, they were each pulled aside. Max by Syl, and Alec by Zack and Krit.

Zack stood in front of him with his arms crossed and an impassive look on his face. Krit was more relaxed but still wary.

"So..." Zack began. "You and Max..." Alec smirked and lightly punched his shoulder.

"Come on. You're a big boy. You should be able to say it," he taunted. Zack glared at him.

"Not when it involves my sister," he retorted.

"Kritty here ain't complainin'," Alec pointed out. Krit raised his eyebrows.

"Just 'cause I'm not as up front about it doesn't mean I'm giving you full on support," Krit replied. Alec's grin faltered.

"So you guys don't think Max and I should've had sex while she was in heat?" he clarified. Zack and Krit exchanged glances.

"That's not what I meant," Krit scratched the back of his head.

"Just think you should've waited. You know how heat can affect a female's..." Zack began but Alec interrupted him.

"Uh...I appreciate the thoughtlessness but Max and I are adults. We know what we want. The best thing you can do is just be supportive." Zack let a small grin cross his face before he loosely grabbed the collar of Alec's jacket and leaned in.

"We'll be supportive like hell. It's Max after all. But you hurt her...you'll be living the rest of your life breathing and eating through a tube. Got it?" Alec just nodded, not trusting himself to open his mouth, knowing something smart-alecky would come out. "Good." Zack let go of him.

"Let's go deliver packages then, shall we?" Krit offered with a grin as Max and Syl joined them. Alec rolled his eyes at the obvious lame attempt at a coverup.

Max met his eyes and immediately knew Zack and Krit had given Alec the same talk Syl had given her. "Yes, we shall," Max replied as they headed off to get packages from Normal.


A truck was slowly making it's way down the road, until it reached a sector checkpoint. One of the cops, decked out in full uniform, looked up at the driver.

"ID," he said, obviously bored as he let his eyes wander, waiting for the driver to fish out his license. The driver was a heavyset man with dark, curly brown hair that fell into his watery blue eyes. Eyes that seemed to be wider than they should be, like he was trying to tell the cop something. But the cop wasn't paying attention. He simply glanced at the ID, clarified it was legit in his 'professional opinion', and waved for his colleagues to let him through.

As the truck rumbled past the gate, the reason for the driver's worried eyes came out from the back of the truck. A young woman with long dark hair, wearing all black. She loosely held a gun in her right hand.

"That wasn't so bad was it?" she asked flippantly as she settled herself in the passenger seat. The driver gulped and glanced at her fearfully.

"W-what exactly do you want from me?" he asked nervously. The woman smiled.

"Well..." she reached out and grabbed his license, checking his name. "Glen. Before we start talking too much about the future...I'd just like to get pass a few more sector checkpoints. Seattle's my destination." Glen swallowed again.

"W-what's in S-Seattle?" he stammered, not quite sure why he was even daring himself to ask her that. The smile stayed on the woman's face nonetheless, but still didn't reach her eyes.

"Family. I'm just coming back for a visit," she explained simply, but it came out sharp. Like she didn't like admitting to it, or that she had other plans in mind. "

"Lucky family..." Glen muttered. The woman's smile disappeared and she fixed a fierce glare on him.

"What did you say?" she asked harshly. Glen gripped the steering wheel so tight, he knuckles were a ghostly white and sweat beads fell down his forehead.

"I said 'lucky family'," he repeated, but in a lighter tone. The woman narrowed her eyes but didn't comment. Glen glanced nervously at her. "S-So...you know what my name is...what's yours?" The woman gave him a questioning, suspicious look. "We still g-got about and h-hour til we get to Seattle...m-maybe we can become more acquainted?" He tried to smile but the fear in his eyes gave it away. The woman gave him a feral grin.

"You can call me 734."


Max rode into Jam Pony by herself. She looked around, but didn't see the others.

"Guess they're still finishing their runs..." she muttered.

"Hey Max!" she heard someone call. She turned around and saw OC and Sketchy waving her over. "Where ya been boo? I been looking everywhere." She gave Max a pointed look.

"Yeah, Max. What've you been up to lately? I feel like it's been ages since we last talked," Sketchy added. Max raised her eyebrows at him.

"We talked yesterday, Mr. Memory," she teased. Sketchy feigned hurt. "Hey, if you can't take innocent insults, don't set yourself up for them." Sketchy grinned.

"It's so awesome having you back," he replied. Max smiled in return.

"I'm glad to be back," she stated. "But I think we've gone over this conversation several times." Sketchy just shrugged.

"Hey foo, leave me alone with my boo for a minute, or five," OC interrupted. Sketchy rolled his eyes but complied, leaving with a small wave.

"50 bucks says I know what our topic of conversation's gonna be..." Max said, dryly.

"You had sex with Alec," OC stated, ignoring her comment. "You had sex with Alec while you were in heat."

"Shoulda shook on that...I'd be 50 bucks richer by now," Max muttered. OC glared at her.

"Max, this is serious. You're not even completely out of the woods yet and you're already thinking about bringing another transgenic life into the world. A life that will most likely be filled with near-death experiences and endless escapes from some ugly-ass bad guys," she reminded. Max sighed.

"I know," she replied before meeting OC's eyes. "But it just felt right, okay?" OC scoffed.

"Boo, you was in heat. Of course bedding your hot boy sounded right."

"Don't tell me you're disowning me 'cause I might blow up like a whale in the next nine months," Max joked. Despite herself, OC find a grin forming on her face.

"Nothing could make me wanna disown my boo. Not even outrageous hormones that have yet to rear their ugly heads," OC replied.

"So you're support-o-gal?" OC nodded. Max grinned and they bumped fists. A second later, Max's pager beeped. She glanced down at the reading, immediately recognizing it as Zack's cell phone. "It's Zack, I have to use the phone." OC just gave her a look and waved her away.

"Then go make the call," she ushered. Max smiled before walking over to phone.

"Max?" came Zack's worried voice.

"Yeah it's me," Max replied, her brow furrowing. "What's wrong?"

"There's been a slight disturbance across the street."

"What disturbance? What street?"

"A man who had his brains blown out. 35th and Weatherton."

"I'm on my way." Max quickly hung up the phone and walked briskly back to OC. "There's been an accident. I gotta head out." OC just nodded and Max grabbed her coat, rushing out of Jam Pony.

Twenty minutes later, she arrived at 35th and Weatherton. She lifted her sunglasses and rested them on top of her head before she hopped off her motorcycle and walked it down the sidewalk to where Krit and Syl were.

"Hey," she greeted. They both looked up at her, faces solemn. "Where's Zack and Alec?"

"Alec went to get Blake, and Zack is over there, annoying a cop," Syl explained, glancing over to where Zack was yelling at a guy in uniform. A cop. Max looked confused.

"Why...exactly?" Syl closed her eyes and swallowed while Krit remained stoic.

"He doesn't want it to be true," he said softly. Max's confusion deepened.

"What..."

"See that heavyset man over there? Swarmed by the cops?" Krit began. Max looked over and saw him. He had curly, brown hair that was matted with thick blood and other bodily insides that Max preferred not to think about. His watery blue eyes stared sightlessly up at the cloudless sky, a rare scene in Seattle that he wasn't actually witnessing. Anymore, at least.

"Yeah..." Max choked out. Krit drew in a shaking breath.

"Well...a few of the witnesses saw him forced out of his truck by gunpoint," he explained. "Gunpoint by a young woman, about 5'5", Asian, wearing all black." Max didn't like where this was going. A feeling that became more and more apparent as both Krit and Syl's eyes filled with tears. "She had a barcode on the back of her neck, Max." Max bit her lip as she clenched and unclenched her fists.

"Were any of the witnesses able to get a good look at her? Enough to be able to do a detailed drawing?" Max asked, her voice shaking. They nodded and looked over at a flyer hanging on a lamppost. Max followed their gaze, her eyes falling on a chillingly familiar face. She rushed over and ripped the paper off the post. She stared at it in shocked silence before she brought her hand to her forehead, suddenly feeling like she was about to have a monster headache.

"She's apparently killed three other people, Max," Syl said, interrupting her trance. "This guy was her fourth." Max's lower lip quivered and she grasped the flyer tighter, crumpling it.

"I-I agree with Zack," she stated, trying to sound firm. But her brown eyes were clearly filled with pain. "T-this can't be her. I-it can't be. She wouldn't..."

"Max. She was at Manticore about the same amount of time we were. But she had the added bonus of being brainwashed to the nines. She's fully capable..."

"No. No. It can't be. I-I don't believe it..." Max felt hot tears fall down her cheeks and she swiftly tried to wipe them away. "It's Brin for Christ's sake! She's our sister! She can't..." Syl and Krit shared her look of anguish. "She can't start acting like Ben..." Syl and Krit's eyes widened and Max realized her slip too late.

"What do you mean 'start acting like Ben'? How is going on a killing spree like Ben?" Syl demanded. Max sputtered, trying to find the right excuse, but she could come up with nothing. "Answer me, dammit! What exactly is the connection between her and Ben!"

"I-I can't explain it. Not here. Not now. It isn't the right time," Max replied before trying to get away, but Krit grabbed her arm.

"You owe us an explanation sis. What did that comment mean?" he asked, not letting go. Max winced, but didn't try escaping again.

"A-a little more than a month before we went on that mission to destroy Manticore's DNA lab...I ran into Ben," she began, not noticing that three other people had joined them. Alec, Blake, and Zack. She was too wrapped up in feeling guilty and trying not to burst into tears, crying for forgiveness, to hear their footsteps. "He was...troubled, to put it mildly. Remember, back at Manticore? When he used to tell those amazing stories?" Syl and Krit nodded. "He made them up so we would have answers to why we were there. But once we came out here, there were too many things he didn't have an answer for. He snapped. And he took eleven people with him."There wasn't a word painful enough to describe the look on Syl and Krit's faces.Or Zack's. "A minister would have been his twelfth. But I couldn't...I couldn't let him..." Krit had let go of Max's arm and backed away, along with Syl. Max swallowed, holding on to her stomach, feeling guilt-ridden bile start rising.

"You...you...stopped...him," Zack made his presence known. "You mean...you...killed...him." Max gave all three of them a pleading look.

"H-he asked me to. Manticore was closing in on us. He would've rather died than go back there. You know what would have happened to him!" she tried to explain. Alec and Blake watched with sympathetic, hopeless eyes, neither knowing how or when to help, if help was needed at all. Zack's face went blank. "Zack...please..."

"We have more pressing matters to deal with right now," he replied in a monotone, not meeting Max's eyes. "And this is one matter I hope will not be resolved with killing a sibling." Max felt the bile rise higher as Syl gave her a look of incredible disgust.

"Speak for yourself," she spat out before rushing away.

"Syl!" Krit called out as he started to go after her. Max clutched her stomach and she ran over to a nearby trash can that was out of view, but the transgenics could still hear her retching. Alec noticed a flicker of concern in Zack's eyes, before he quickly hid it.

Good...he still cares about her...Alec thought, relieved. "Max?" he called out tentatively. No answer. "Max?" He shared a look of alarm with Blake and Zack before rushing over to where Max had gone.

She was slumped against the wall, passed out. Alec inhaled sharply before running over to her. He picked her up in his arms and walked back over to the others.

"Is she alright?" Blake asked. Alec didn't answer but gave Zack a look, silently telling him to shove aside the new information he just received.

"We need to get her to a safe place, where she can lay down," Zack said.

"Where's the closest place?" Blake questioned. Alec and Zack exchanged looks. "What?"


Zack opened the door without knocking, striding past the very surprised blonde haired man in glasses. Alec followed, carrying Max, with Blake close behind.

"Hey Logan, we need your help. More correctly, we need your bed," Alec explained.

A/N-Sorry this chapter is a little short...I'll try to make the next one longer. Review please!

Angel Of Darkness231-I'm not a baby...Lol. Thanks a lot ;o)

angelofdarkness78-He's grown up more so the news didn't exactly shock him, but he's still gonna be protective of her ;o)

Kristibella-I'm glad you're enjoying this story. And don't worry, it doesn't matter that you didn't review the earlier chapters, reviewing now is just enough and I appreciate it ;o) Thanks.

Sequoia-Lol. That may happen but I can't promise anything ;o)

tory-I'm glad you're liking this story. Logan's reaction is coming up in the next chapter ;o)