DISCLAIMER: I don't own Dark Angel. But I do own both seasons on DVD.

Set some time after the Jam Pony siege. The transgenics in TC are trying to get back on their feet and trying to live as normal a life as they can, with Max as their leader.

Faceless Anonymity

Prologue

It had been a while since she had gone to the Space Needle. There had simply been no time, what with all her duties as a leader – organising Terminal City and all its inhabitants was no easy feat, as well as dealing with the Seattle cops and the National Guard nearly every week or so. She sighed. What would it take to convince America that transgenics were not the God – fearing, evil, soulless beings that they were thought to be?

The rain came down continuously on her small form, drenching her body as she sat in thoughtful silence atop her precious 'High Place'. Water sluiced down thick dark strands of her hair and along the creased contours of her tight black leathers, cold and refreshing, but comfortable enough for her X5 blood. She gazed down on the post-pulse city spread out beneath her, a myriad of streets and buildings, with numerous inhabitants all unaware of her watchful eyes upon them. And how she longed to be one of them. No, that was a lie – she would never abandon her kind… but it would make a nice change to not have the whole world against you for once…

"Maxie?" A strong but uncharacteristically hesitant voice sounded from behind her. It was all she could do to hold back a groan; peace would all but vanish if he came to call. Don't throw the smartass off the Space Needle, don't throw the smartass off the Space Needle, don't throw the smartass off the Space Needle, don't throw-

"Hey, um, don't throw me off the Needle for coming here, but –" Alec began.

"Was I really that obvious?" asked Max, severely agitated by his presence, even though he had done nothing to offend her. Yet.

"I've been sent to collect you," announced Alec, all traces of hesitance obliterated, his cocky grin in place. He bowed mockingly. "My Lady, you are requested back at your royal kingdom by your humble Lord."

Max frowned, her interest piqued even though her expression denied it. "Royal grounds?" she repeated, confused. "Humble Lord?"

Alec rolled his eyes as if she was being stupid. He sat down beside her and she shifted uncomfortably, slipping slightly on the damp surface; he smirked and she resisted cuffing him around the head (she might send him off the edge of the Space Needle if she wasn't careful). Not that she would cry over it.

"Funny, I thought cats didn't like the rain," he commented randomly, gesturing to the rain falling all around them.

"Would you just get to the point?" snapped Max frustratedly, eager to get rid of him. "Who's this Lord? Has an official come to Terminal City?"

Alec squinted at her through the drizzle of droplets, grinning because he loved winding the fiery brunette up. He suppressed a laugh. "And I thought transgenics had higher IQs than your average human – OW!" Max had just smacked him one, murder blazing in her gaze. "Ok, ok," he assured her, rubbing the side of his head affectedly. "I was talking about your boyfriend," he told her, taking care to place a particular emphasis on the 'boyfriend' bit. "Logan. He's been looking for you all afternoon; getting all worried cos he hasn't seen you all day."

"He's not my boyfriend," growled Max.

"Eh, whatever you say," muttered Alec, utterly unconvinced. "OW!"

"Shut up," ordered Max, after hitting him again. "If Logan wanted me so much, why didn't he come up here himself?"

Alec could not hold back his derision at the answer to her question. "Not as close as I thought you guys were," he paused in anticipation of another slap. But it didn't come; Max just glared. "Logan's afraid of heights," he informed her, seriously now. "Didn't you know?"

Of course, remembered Max distantly. How could I forget? I seem to be forgetting everything about Logan these days…

"Uh, Max?" Alec interrupted her thoughts again. "Logan wants to see you 'ASAP', as he put it. You going down anytime soon?"

Max shook her head and looked away. "No."

"It's urgent," Alec insisted firmly.

Max's eyebrows were drawn together in a sharp V, telling the other X5 to back off. And he did just that, standing up and shuffling away slightly. "Do I look as if I care?" she said coldly, glaring at him like it was his fault she was needed back at Terminal City.

Alec was a bit surprised by this last comment – Max was usually hands-on and never shy of responsibility. He took the opportunity to inspect her face closely; his eyes zeroed in on dark circles that were smudged under her eyes and he noted that her colour seemed a touch paler than normal. A little worry bloomed in his chest, but he pushed it aside quickly with a neutral comment, "Ok, I'll tell Logan you'll be down later."

He turned to leave the brooding leader of Terminal City to her own devices. He trudged back the way he had come, shoving his hands into his water-logged pockets and hitching up his shoulders against the wind and rain. It was hard not to turn and yell at Max – he wasn't lying when he said Logan had said the matter was urgent – but he knew better than to challenge her when she was in the height of her I-am-the-supreme-bitch-of-the-world mood. He sighed resignedly at the thought of facing Logan's disappointed, then quickly melting into an annoyed, expression when he returned to HQ Max-less.

Well, he can go get his girlfriend himself, for all I care, thought Alec offhandedly. This is not my problem. Max is not my problem.

Just as he was about to begin his descent off the Needle, his pocket vibrated signalling an incoming call to his cell. Pausing a few meters shy of shelter from the cruel weather, he pulled out his phone and checked the dialler identity; it was Logan. What a coincidence. He allowed himself a groan before placing the speaker to his ear.

"Yeah?" Alec said tiredly into the mouthpiece. On the other side of the Space Needle, Max stiffened, her acute hearing tuning into the conversation immediately, though most of it was lost to the wind.

Logan's crackly voice crawled through the speaker with difficulty, filtering into Alec's ear with a lot of the words missing; the signal was terrible, and even Max had to strain her hearing to catch even the slightest sounds from the cell.

"Alec?" he was saying. There was a bout of heavy static before his voice came back on. "Have- ve- ve y- you -you fou- nd –nd Max y- yet?"

Alec opened his mouth to answer, but then held back. "No," he lied, after a pause, not wanting Logan to rant on about how important it was to find Max. The girl in question blinked, surprised.

Logan went silent (or did the signal cut him off?). Finally, his voice cracked through the line. "I kn-know she- sh- she's- on t-top of the sp-sp- space nee-needle," he was saying accusingly. "D-d-don't lie t-t-to me- me-; I s-s-s-saw y-you g-g-go up-up. I want- t-t-t-to t-tal-talk t-to h-her. Jus- just- just –put h-her- on the line –"

Alec's jaw tautened. He snapped the phone shut and launched it out into the wailing wind. It whistled faintly before dropping somewhere away in the distance. Max watched it fall. She turned and gave him a strange look.

Alec simply shrugged. "You owe me a new phone," he said tonelessly, and continued his journey down the Space Needle, leaving Max to dwell upon her numerous issues alone. It was not as if he would understand, anyway… not that she trusted him enough to talk to him about them in the first place.

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The hunter growled with agitation as the constant drip of raindrops pelted its already doused form. It slunk through the scarcely inhabited alleyways and back-streets of Seattle, slithering from one shadow to another, hidden by the darkness of the night. It resisted the urge to howl with frustration at finding no worthy prey and a course of rumbles built in its stomach, yearning to be sated with the hot tangy taste of blood and flesh. At the thought of a fresh kill, the hunter couldn't help but salivate excitedly, taste buds tingling with anticipation. It was going to kill tonight.

A few yards along its journey, the hunter stopped and sniffed the air; a nice scent was adrift in the heavy wind, dampened by the unforgiving rain, but nevertheless, subtly delicious and tempting. It bared its fangs in a feral and enthusiastic way, and began its cautious trek to the source of the smell. Soon enough, the hunter spied its prey standing on a balcony of some sort, gazing somewhat longingly into space; its stomach grumbled loudly again, impatient for a feed. Luckily, the prey did not hear the sound, and the hunter exhaled a sigh of relief, a bit of saliva dribbling down its front. It started to creep up to the wall beside the balcony.

The hunter was neither seen nor heard as it made its ascent towards its prey. It had somehow found a footholds in the wall it was climbing, levering itself up, each time getting closer and closer to its destination. The prey remained oblivious, still staring into the foggy sky, allowing the rain to batter its body.

The hunter paused once it was directly under the balcony. It crawled until it was clinging to the underside of the concrete, claws planted firmly around some slippery metal that was jutting out of the floor on top of which the prey was standing. After a certain amount of time, the hunter began swinging. Once it got the momentum right, it gave an amazing spurt of energy and flung its way forward and upwards, feet first, away off the balcony underside. It curled its legs into a flip backwards and onto the balcony. Right behind its prey.

The prey didn't have time to register what that blurry shape flying from underneath it was. It turned to meet eyes filled with so much animosity, it froze like a rabbit caught in the glare of car headlights. Which, of course, was the desired effect.

The hunter licked its lips, tracing the contours of its fangs with its tongue. The prey blanched and snapped, trying to escape.

Too bad it really had nowhere to run.

A/N: This is my first DA fic; I've been reading DA fanfic for so long, so I finally decided to add my own. Should I carry on? Review and tell me! Any criticism welcomed (though this is only my first chapter, but I plan to write more) as well as any constructing advice… Thanks for reading!

Daygoner