Rating: PG

Genre: Romance/Drama

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Dark Angel and I have no money so suing me would be pointless.

Summary: You can't control what you hear; you can only pretend its not being said. How will Max cope when something becomes too real to ignore? M/A (as if I'd write anything else)

Thanks for the reviews! here's the next chapter just for you!

Chapter 7

Max stirred lightly in her bed as the bright early morning sunlight streaked in across her room through her barely adequate drapes. She squeezed her eyes closed scrunching them up against the strong sunlight and tried to keep hold of the last dregs of sleep before they were snatched away from her. She sighed sadly as her eyes flickered open. Staring at the ceiling she tried to remember the dream she had just had. She remembered a warm contentment washing over her and a strong pair of arms encircling her, holding her close to a warm chest. All else was hazy. She wanted to go back there to that place where she felt so safe, at peace and protected from all the troubles in her life. Now is the waking world she knew it would only be a matter of time before her mind was flooded again with her worries.

"Are you ever getting up?" The abrupt question breaking the silence in her room made her jump straight up in bed. Alec sat crouched at the end of her bed apparently amused at having been able to catch her unawares. Max scowled at him.

"H … How long have you been there?"

"Long enough. It seems you're losing your touch." Max growled and threw her pillow at him. Alec's cat like reflexes allowed him to deflect the attack easily.

"What do you want?"

"Well aren't you a picture." Alec chuckling at the flustered Max pointing at the purple swelling on her cheek that hadn't quite faded from their fight last night.

"You can talk." Max huffed crossing her arms over her chest, "You want me to make it a pair, panda boy!" Alec subconsciously touched his black eye and grinned.

"Come on, get dressed. I've got something I want to show you." Max narrowed her eyes and beheld him suspiciously as he quickly left the room. He closed the door behind him to let her change and Max grudgingly complied. It would be time for the morning meeting soon anyway so whatever he wanted to do couldn't take that long.

For the first time in a while that her brain was not running and chaotic with questions and fears. She was sure they were still there but for now they were keeping to themselves. She pulled on a black sweater and some jeans, quickly brushing her hair though she didn't know why. She usually didn't care much for her appearance nor what anyone thought of it.

She stepped out her room to find Alec standing by the door waiting with his hands stuffed deep into his pockets, scuffing his shoes on the rug. She looked around the room finding it exactly as they had left it last night. How typical for him not even to attempt to clear up. Looking back at him she frowned. He looked tense and for a moment a shot of panic ran through her as she thought about what he might by planning to do or say. But she pushed it down quickly and stepped forward with a confident scowl plastered across her face.

"Shall we?" He asked rocking nervously on his heals. Max sighed and shrugged trying to appear indifferent. They left in companionable silence and walked through the streets of terminal city side by side. The few passers by they encountered gave them strange looks because of the bruised and battered appearances.

They took an unexpected left which took them away from the inhabited streets of Terminal city to the ones still desolate and awaiting transformation. Max was beginning to tire of all this secrecy.

"Alec, where are we going?"

"You'll see." Alec said with what could have been a nervous lilt or barely contained excitement. Max balled her fists in frustration but picked up her pace to fall in step behind him. They climbed through a partially demolished fence into an area which at first glance appeared to be some kind of junk yard or dump sight but for Alec it was much more. He stopped suddenly just before going around some burnt out cars and turned his sparkling hazel eyes on an irritated Max who almost walked straight into him.

She had been quietly debating the meaning of her appreciative glances at Alec's 'cute ass' as her mind adamantly wanted to call it. Half of her said it was harmless. Appreciating his assets was like admiring his genetics; a combination of fine DNA and hard training would do that. The other half, however, argued that she shouldn't be encouraging any kind of Alec appreciation as one admission could only lead to conclusions she really wasn't ready to reach.

Her senses returned to her just in time to prevent her from colliding with Alec' chest which wouldn't have helped the bigger debate that had been raging within Max since she had discovered his feelings for her.

"What now?" She snapped, her hands fists at her hips in a classic Max-is-annoyed pose. Alec, however, remained undeterred.

"You know we were talking ... well yelling actually, and then punching. I mean far be it for us to actually discuss anything civilly when we can have a brawl, right."

"Alec." Max interrupted his rambling, "Do you have a point?"

"Do you remember we were arguing about training for the younger X's and we needed to find 'another way'?" Max looked about ready to cut in and no doubt resume their conflict where it had left off, but Alec continued before she had the chance. "Well I think I might just have the solution."

He grabbed her hand and dragged her around the pile of burnt out cars into a cleared area that had once been a playground. There was a rusting swing set , a crooked round-a-bout and an old climbing frame. Max just stared at the somewhat pathetic collection of metal, wood and plastic.

"Imagine this but on a bigger scale, with higher climbs, swinging ropes, tunnels, the works. They'll be gaining all the skills they need and sharpening the ones they've already got only in a relatively 'normal' way."

Alec hated using the word 'normal'. He didn't really know what it meant and hated how people strove for it instead of accepting themselves as they naturally were.

"They can play 'escape and evade' which is pretty much 'hide and seek' anyways. For the youngest this should be enough, but I think we are still going to need some of the older kids when it comes down to it, but ... it'll be their decision of course." Alec paused noting that Max had been silent all this time, just starring at him. He went over his points in his head to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. Now all he needed was a response. "So? What do you think?"

Alec had prepared himself for a lot. Abuse he could take, yelling, tantrums, and flat out rejection had all been considered possible and in some cases very likely. He had even prepared himself for some kind of positive reaction to his ideas, but the one thing he hadn't expected was for her to burst into tears. Alec was floored as he watched the tears roll down her cheeks. Total confusion paralysed him in that moment.

"Hey, " he said gently moving hesitantly towards her "you know crying to get your way is really lame …" Alec's attempt at humour didn't seem to help. "I'm sorry... surely its not that bad?"

Max shook her head, "No, it's wonderful."

With that she perplexed Alec even further by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him tightly against her. Alec tentatively returned the gesture and began rubbing soothing circles over her back. Max closed her eye and began to cry harder in a pure release of all the emotions she had been burying and battling with until now. It seemed it had all been in vain, she had fallen for him anyways. The reason his feelings for her had bothered her so much was because she returned them and that was the most wonderful and most terrible thing all at once. She didn't want to get involved or let her guard down in case he too was snatched from her like so many others she had cared for. It was easier to push him away, to act like she didn't care because then her heart would be safe.

They had gotten off to such a bad start. All that stuff he'd done to her in the past, how was it that she could develop feelings for someone who had wrecked her life back then? but they were so similar and it wasn't like she had had a saint's life. He understood her so well, and she found she didn't have to qualify everything to him like she found herself doing so often with Logan. He knew her well enough to know when to help and when to just back off.

Max buried her face in the crook of his neck twisting her fists in his shirt. She felt a warm contentment wash over her as she took a deep breath of his scent.

"Max?" Alec's voice broke into her thoughts as her sobs died away and her heaving breath started to calm. "Max, what's going on? You've been edgy, you're not sleeping, you avoid me and then you have these violent mood swings. You've just not been here for the last week. Please tell me what's wrong?"

Max's eyes sprang open at the sincerity of his concern for her. She couldn't believe all this was happening because he couldn't be bothered to go and pick up the communications headset from his room.

"This is all your fault!" Max cried hammering her fist against his chest. "Why won't you let me hate you!" Alec was confused again and a little hurt.

"You want to?" Alec swallowed thickly "You want to hate me?"

"It would be so much easier than loving you." She whispered her slightly unconventional confession. Alec tensed against her and pulled her away from his chest so he could look her in the eye.

"What?" Max looked up into his now slightly desperate hazel eyes and reached out to touch his face. Usually this would be the time when she would run off for an emergency heart-to-heart with OC, but her normal defences weren't responding, they had short circuited after the surge of emotions over flowed her system.

"I love you." She said no tears coming to her eyes this time. Alec was trembling, his brain trying to work round what he had just heard. His heart seemed to have stopped beating all together. He couldn't breath afraid that if he did all this would melt into nothing and he would wake to find himself alone in bed.

Max watched the emotion flit across his eyes, changing and swirling right in front of her. She ran her hand into his hair and began to stroke her fingers through his fine strands. Her actions cleared his stormy eyes and his heart began to beat again.

"I thought I'd be the first to say it." he said a smile playing on his lips.

"So did I." Max laughed.

"You knew?" Alec frowned at her strange response. "For how long?"

"Does it matter?" Max tilted her head at him.

"I guess not." Alec touched her as if he still couldn't believe she was real. He ran his thumb across her full lips his gaze becoming intense and heated. It was then that Max realised he hadn't said it. She knew he felt it but he still hadn't said the words.

"Alec..." Alec leaned in slowly and cut her off as he hovered just above her lips.

"Max, I love you." Then he sealed his words with the lightest sweetest of kisses which quickly turned passionate. Max sighed and ran her fingers down his cheek and along his jaw line. Alec pulled her hard against him and between them a strange heat began to grow.

A/N: Hi all. Aha, finally some progress right? It's all a bit fluffy I know but I can't help it, they had it coming. But you'll be glad to know (or I hope you'll be glad to know) that we are not finished yet. Unless of course you'd like it left like this? let me know what you think. Read and Review. xxx