Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me, but the plot is mine. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement was intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N:- I'm not going to whinge about ffnet's alerts. I'm not! Grrr… Fortunately, I finally got all your reviews. Thank you so much!

Irresistible Rivals - Chapter 20

(by elle6778)

Leaning against the headboard with his arms linked behind his head, Alec snuck a quick glance to his left at the other transgenic. Jack was his name if he recalled correctly. The guy was sitting on the old couch, leaning forward with his elbows on his thighs. The laptop that he had been using earlier was left unused beside him.

Jack was still looking at him with that weird expression on his face. What was his problem? Alec was beginning to feel like a bug under inspection. What was so interesting about him that Jack had to stare at him that way?

And the silence was beginning to unnerve him.

Plastering a nonchalant expression on his face, Alec swung his legs over the side of the bed and positioned himself to face Jack. "What?" he asked flatly.

Seemingly snapping out of his thoughts, Jack straightened a little. "What do you mean?" His voice was mild.

Alec raised an eyebrow. "You're staring. Do I have dirt or something on my face? If that's the case, you'd better tell me before that pretty hellcat returns," he finished with a smirk.

The corner of Jack's lips twitched. "Hellcat? You're referring to Max, I take it?"

"You didn't answer my question."

Jack relaxed back on the couch. "It's nothing."

He was too casual about it, Alec thought suspiciously. Crossing his arms over his chest, Alec went on, "Oh, come on. This is getting old. None of you would tell me anything. And you know what? It's getting to be really boring in here."

Jack smiled. "You should have thought about that before you decided to come here."

Alec sighed. "Okay, maybe it's not so bad here."

Wordlessly Jack tapped his thighs, watching Alec thoughtfully. Alec waited and waited, but Jack just continued to stare. It was unnerving.

Reaching the end of his patience, Alec finally snapped irritably, "Can you drop the staring already?!"

Jack's fingers stilled, and then his lips twitched again. "I can't help it."

"What? It can't be that difficult to get a grip on your eyes." Alec's voice was incredulous.

"He would have looked like you," Jack said quietly.

Alec frowned in confusion. "Who?"

"Ben."

His confusion deepening, Alec prompted carefully, "Ben?"

Jack nodded.

Alec groaned. This was going to be harder than he thought. The guy was definitely the quiet type. If Alec had not experienced fighting with him, he would have even thought that the guy was meek. But no, this guy was far from meek.

Just reticent, it seemed.

"Can you say more than one sentence at a time?" Alec asked sarcastically.

Jack looked at him for a second. "Yes."

Suppressing the urge to pound the wall in frustration, Alec stood up and paced the length of the room. The place was beginning to suffocate him. Perhaps gaining their trust this way was not such a good idea after all. He was definitely not going to get anywhere if he could not even get a conversation going.

Standing in front of the boarded-up window, Alec peeked out through a narrow gap between the boards. There was not much to see. Just another rundown building on the opposite side.

"Ben's one of us," Jack suddenly said.

Surprised, Alec swivelled around to find Jack standing right behind him. Damn, the man was as stealthy as a cat. "What?"

"I was just trying to see Ben in your body," Jack went on.

Alec's jaw dropped. What the hell was the guy going on about? "What?! Why do you need to imagine him in MY body? That's just… weird."

"Because he didn't make it," Jack added, staring into space.

Alec's brow furrowed. "Didn't make what?" He was beginning to think that there was something seriously wrong with this guy.

Shaking his head, Jack looked at him in the eye. "That's all I can tell you."

Alec smacked a hand against his forehead and groaned. "You told me nothing."

Jack suddenly grinned. "But that doesn't mean you can't ask Max."

Alec gaped at him.

Was the guy actually on his side?

Her eyes followed Seth around as he paced the room like a caged tiger. His face was suffused with barely suppressed anger at their trickery. Uncomfortable, she looked away, feeling guilty for being a part of the deceit.

"Come on, Seth. Don't make this difficult on yourself," Eva implored softly.

Seth rounded on her. "Difficult?" He snorted resentfully. "It's not me who's making things difficult here."

Zane interjected firmly, "You're the one with things to hide."

Seth voice was cold. "No. You think that I've something to hide." Then, in a flash, he suddenly blurred to the window.

Max's eyes widened. "NO!" she exclaimed as she rushed forward to stop him. But before she could reach him, Zack and Zane tackled him to the ground.

Seth fell down with a heavy thud.

"Let me go, damn it! This is going too far," Seth snarled angrily, struggling against the other two transgenics.

Concerned, Max crouched down beside him. "Seth, please. We just want to know."

He stopped struggling to stare up at her, his expression unreadable. "How could you, Max?" he asked quietly. "You knew, but you went along with it. I thought you trust me more than this."

The accusation hit her hard, and she flinched. "I'm sorry."

His expression hardened. "Sorry just isn't going to cut it." Turning his attention to Zack, Seth said coldly, "Let me up."

Max could see the hesitation in Zack's eyes before he warned, "Don't run."

A bitter smile graced Seth's lips. "What's the point?"

Zack and Zane released him cautiously. Seth stood up and took a couple of steps back. It was as if he could not bear to be near them, Max thought, distressed at the entire situation. But at least now they would know what was going on with him.

"So?" Tinga prompted.

"I'm not running." Seth paused for a beat, and then his expression become stony. "But I got nothing to tell you."

He leaned back against the wall, his entire body tensed as if he expected an attack.

A bubble of annoyance began to grow in Max, pushing through the guilt she was feeling. Why was Seth being so stubborn? Couldn't he see that they were just concerned? Wasn't it about time he came clean with them?

Around her, the rest of her siblings wore similar stunned looks.

Eva was the first to speak. "What do you hope to gain by keeping secrets from us, Seth?" she asked coolly.

Seth did not reply.

Gritting her teeth, Max stepped close to him. "Just tell us. What's so hard about it?"

His shoulders set in a tense line, he bit out, "I'm not going to cave just because all of you ganged up on me."

Max's eyes flashed angrily. "How long can you keep this from us, huh?"

Turning, Seth tried to step around her.

Not in the mood to entertain any more of his evasiveness, Max grabbed his arm and spun him around.

"Max…" he warned.

"Don't 'Max' me!" she snapped in annoyance.

He stared down at her, his expression bland. "You're wasting you time. How long can you keep me here? In the end, I'm just going to walk out."

Irritated beyond belief, she hit him in the chest and pinned him to the wall. "No! You're not going to walk away from this again."

With a twist of his arms, he reversed their position. Holding her to the wall, he leaned close and hissed angrily, "No. I'm asking you to leave it."

Zane placed a warning hand on Seth's shoulders. "Hey, chill, man."

Eyes flashing, Max shoved Seth away from her. "What happened to you, Seth? You've changed so much that all of us could barely recognise you."

"I just did that I had to," he defended, his eyes falling on the rest of them. "For all of us!"

"So just tell us what is it you're hiding."

"I said, drop it," he gritted out in a tight voice, his hands fisted by his side. He looked like he was about to lose it.

Max laid her hands on her hips. Common sense told her that she should back off. That she should leave it instead of antagonising him further.

But common sense had never been her strong point.

Tilting her chin up resolutely, she stood her ground. "I just want an explanation, Seth. The whole deal is getting out of hand. Your lies are getting out of hand."

His fist hit the wall with a dull thud, leaving a dent in the plaster. "You don't know what you're asking from me, Max," he snarled.

"It's not just her. The rest of us would like to know as well," Eva interjected quietly.

Knowing that he was cornered, his eyes blazed with fury. "You all want to know what I did? Every single ugly detail?" he challenged heatedly.

Swallowing hard, Max nodded.

Tinga gave him a worried look. "It can't be that bad, Seth."

Seth snorted derisively. "All of you haven't seen how ugly it can get."

Frowning in irritation, Max asked, "What do you mean? You make it sound like we're all clueless babies or something."

"You have no idea how true that is."

Zack sighed in exasperation. "What happened, Seth?"

Stalking to the end of the room, Seth leaned against the wall and exhaled loudly.

Then he looked at Zack. "Do you remember that mission we went on? The Tillett mission?"

Frowning slightly, Zack replied, "The Manticore technician? The one where we had to pull him out because he thinks that someone was onto him."

"Yeah. That one. After you left with Tillett, I went back to get the file he had forgotten."

"That was like a year ago or something like that, wasn't it?" Zane spoke up, frowning as he tried to remember.

"Well, I went back. Tillett's intel was accurate. Someone was after him. I just didn't realise that someone was there until it was too late."

"From Manticore?"

Seth nodded.

"Who?"

Seth inhaled loudly. "It was 354, my twin." His lips twisted as the rest of them gasped in shock. "I was stumped. For a second, I thought I was seeing things. Then all I could think of was that they will find out. Manticore will find out about us."

"What did you do?" Max was almost afraid to ask.

"354 was just as shocked. He was sent there to retrieve Tillett. We had words. He was…not like us. Then we fought. He pinned me down and told me that since he could not find Tillett, he was taking me back with him. For further analysis, he told me," Seth told them, the disgust in his voice clear.

Taking a deep breath, he went on. "I threw him off. But I knew that I could not let him go. He would just run back to Manticore and report the incident."

"No…" Max whispered as comprehension dawned. "You didn't…" She could not say it.

Their eyes met. Green and brown. Both just as stricken. "He was… I…" Seth faltered uncharacteristically.

"You killed him," Zane stated flatly, his voice bearing no recrimination.

A short pause followed before Seth nodded curtly. "I had to. There was no other way." Then he exclaimed in a harsher tone. "It's either him or us!"

The silence which followed was thick.

"I buried him in the garden," he continued quietly. "But before I could leave, his reinforcements arrived."

Max's eyes widened in understanding. "You pretended to be him. You took his place."

Seth nodded. "It was the only thing I could do at that time. There were three of them, all X5s and they had one other technician with them. The odds were in their favour. So I went with them." His voice was clipped.

"I'm surprised that Manticore didn't catch on," Tinga remarked softly.

Seth shook his head. "They wouldn't unless they ran genetic tests. And by the time they ran those regular checks, I already replaced 354's profile with mine."

"One year on and you're still there," Zack stated uneasily.

Seth closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were clouded with regret. "I don't think I can just walk out without raising an alarm. Manticore keeps a tight rein on their transgenics. That is why I don't want Alec near us. Having him around puts us at risk. Manticore might come sniffing around here."

Baffled, Max asked, "Why would they come looking for him if they were the ones who sent him in the first place?"

Seth went silent for a moment before he said quietly. "They didn't."

Max gaped. If what Seth had just said was true, then Alec was telling the truth all this time.

Zane frowned. "Hold on. Let me get this right. Manticore did not send Alec?"

Shaking his head, Seth confirmed, "No. I checked."

Eva looked sceptical. "When?"

Seth grimaced. "When the two of you lost me earlier."

Max exchanged a surprised look with Zane. So that was why Eva and Zane did not get far. A small smile tilted her lips. They should have sent someone stealthier, like Jack.

"What did you find out?" Zack asked.

"Just that Alec did not return with his partner after their mission. They'll start looking for him soon," Seth said, pressing a hand to his temple.

"I think we're more concerned about you right now," Eva said dryly.

Max glanced at Seth, noting how tense he was. This was difficult for him. And now that her anger had abated, her feeling of remorse returned. Having so many of them around, throwing questions after questions at him was not helping.

"Guys, I think Seth and I need some time alone," she told them.

Zane looked indignant. "Hey, I live here."

"We need to sort of some stuff," Max explained, glaring at Zane.

"Hey-" Zane began, but he was cut short by a warning look from Zack.

"And we got to head back to HQ to relieve Jack," Zack pointed out. "Manticore or not, having him around is still a risk."

Tinga sighed as she walked to the door. "We need to figure out what to do with him. Seth is right, even if Alec wasn't sent by Manticore, they'll be searching for him."

"We'll talk about it later," Eva said. Then turning to Seth, she placed a hand on his arm. "And we'll sort this mess out somehow."

Then they left.

Alone with Seth, Max suddenly felt awkward. Now that he had told them what happened, it was not difficult to understand why Seth behaved the way he did. It made her feel bad about doubting him. It made her feel bad that he felt that he had to hide all of it from them. Whether the two of them were together or not, they were still a family and he should not have to go through that by himself.

She looked up to find him staring at her.

"Thanks," he said quietly.

She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I lied to you," she started uncomfortably, and then continued, "But I'm not sorry that you told us what happened."

He turned away from her. Staring unseeingly at an imaginary point in front of him, Seth said quietly, "To be honest, right now, all I feel is relief."

"Relief?"

"Because I don't need to watch every word I say around all of you," he elaborated.

Her heart twisted at his lost expression. Scooting closer, she hugged him from the side. "You shouldn't have kept this from us in the first place. Why did you?"

His voice was strained. "I had to. Because I was ordered to…to…" He trailed off into silence.

She looked up at him, her anxiety growing. Was there something else that he had omitted to tell them? "What?" she asked.

He took a deep breath. "354 was an assassin," he finally admitted.

An assassin.

Max's eyes widened in comprehension. Seth's reluctance to say anything became clear. He feared their condemnation. He was afraid that he would lose them. But whatever he did, they would not abandon him.

"You didn't have a choice," she told him softly, wanting him to know how she felt.

He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. "So it's okay to kill when we don't have a choice? The way I killed 354? My own twin?" He let out a harsh bark of laughter. "It's like watching myself die."

She did not know what to say to make it better. She could not even begin to imagine what Seth had gone through. Manticore had been bad when they got out, and they were only kids at that time. It must be worse to go through all of that as an adult. Especially one who had been living in the real world for so many years.

They had to do something about it.

Max took a deep breath. "There must be some way to get you out of this."

"I wish there was. If I run, they'll just come running after me," he paused, and then added, "The way they will come running after Alec."

Max shut her eyes. She had not slept for a few days, and with recent events, her body was protesting against the lack of rest. Not a good time to think about Alec now. Alec had a way of messing with her mind. And now, with everything that was happening on the Seth front, she had enough to deal with.

"Do you like him?" Seth suddenly asked.

Her eyes snapped open and she stared at him in shock. "What?" Her voice came out weaker than she had intended.

Seth averted his gaze. "I think you do."

Still in shock, Max did not reply. Where did Seth get the idea? Come to think of it, where did Zane get the idea? Or was it so obvious that everyone could see it except her?

"Is this why…" Seth paused, gesturing in the small space between them. He took a deep breath and continued, "Is he the reason why things between us had come to this?"

Her eyes widened. "NO!" she denied heatedly. Then, forcing her voice down to some resemblance of normalcy, she continued, "No. Things were already strained between us. Didn't you notice?"

He gave her a self-deprecating smile. "No. Not until recently, anyway. I guess I was too busy leading a double life to pay you the attention you deserve."

"Seth…" Her voice was soft.

He held up a hand. "It's okay. Really. I'll get over it."

"But-"

"And anyway, your interest lies somewhere else now."

"I don't know, Seth," she muttered, frowning in confusion.

"You do realise what his role in Manticore is, don't you?"

Cautiously, Max ventured, "No. What? A spy?"

Seth shook his head silently.

"What, Seth?" she pressed.

"He's an assassin."

They were guarding him in six hours shifts, Alec noted absently as Zack looked at his watch. If he had it right, his next guard would be Max. It had been twenty-four hours since he had last seen her.

As if on cue, the door opened and Max stepped in.

Alec raised an eyebrow when he noted how tired she looked. She looked strained. Apparently, Zack noticed too. A worried frown graced the blonde transgenic's brow when he stood up.

"Are you okay?" Zack asked.

Max nodded. "Just finished the…" she paused to flick a glance at Alec, and then gestured in the air. "You know."

"We're all set then?"

"Almost there," Max replied cryptically.

Almost where? Alec looked back and forth between them. "Hey, care to fill me in?"

Without even glancing at him, both of them said in unison, "No."

Alec sighed. "I thought you already know I'm not here on Manticore's orders." Apparently it was not that easy to get them to trust him.

"It's complicated. And we still don't know what to do with you," Zack replied.

Alec smirked. "Recruit me?" he suggested innocently.

Max gave him a disbelieving look, but Zack just stared at him thoughtfully. Alec brightened inwardly. Perhaps he had a chance after all.

"You've got to be kidding," Max muttered.

Shrugging, Alec continued lightly, "Your choice. Or do you need an experience report?"

Max rolled her eyes. "Spare me the crap."

But her voice lacked its usual bite. Alec gave her a worried look, wondering what was eating her. He would have to wait until Zack left before he asked her. She seemed to be a little less guarded when they were alone.

"Hey, since I'm not on Manticore's side, don't you think it's time to stop with the guard thing?" he suggested.

Zack rubbed his eyes wearily. "No. You're still a security threat." Stifling a yawn, he said to Max, "I'll leave you to it then. Need to catch some sleep."

Both of them watched as Zack walked out of the door. When the door slammed shut behind the blonde transgenic, Alec turned to Max.

"So," he began cautiously. "What's up with you?"

Max barely glanced at him. "Nothing," she replied dully, slumping down on the couch. She shut her eyes with a heavy sigh.

He stared at her. Seeing Max so washed out and weary did something funny to him. He was so used to seeing her blazing with energy, with fire, that right now it just did not seem right. And those sparks in her eyes were not present. Something was definitely wrong.

Alec grinned as an idea occurred to him. Standing up, he walked towards the couch. "I think I know what the problem is."

She cracked open an eye, but did not move away from him. "What?" she asked disinterestedly.

Leaning down closer to her, he whispered, "You missed me."

Alec swallowed the urge to laugh as her eyes snapped opened instantly. And then those sparks returned. Jackpot, he thought, satisfied at her reaction.

"Don't you have anything better to do than to come up with these inane comments?" she snapped irritably.

Smirking, Alec sat beside her on the couch. "But you didn't deny that you missed me."

She snorted. "Now why would I do something as stupid as that? Why should I miss you?"

"Because you just can't help yourself," he replied cockily.

Groaning, she buried her face in her hands. "I shouldn't have asked."

"They say the truth hurts."

She glared at him wordlessly. Shifting on the couch, she suddenly winced. "Ouch!"

"What?"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out something.

Alec's eyes widened as she held out the familiar voice recorder to him.

"Who's the girl? The one with the piano?"

He took it from her wordlessly. She had obviously listened to it. He did not know how he felt about it. The recording on Rachel was innocent enough, but it was obvious that she was not a transgenic. The other recording would have told Max that all he wanted was to find out the truth.

"Alec?"

Startled, he lifted his eyes to hers. "Huh?"

"The girl," she prompted impatiently, pointing at the device in his hand.

Alec hesitated, trying to decide whether he should tell her. Something told him that it was better that he did. And anyway, secrets always had a way of coming back at the most unwanted times. It was better that he dealt with it now.

"She's the daughter of one of my targets."

"Targets," Max echoed numbly.

Alec steeled himself. Who knew what her reaction would be when she found out what was his role in Manticore? "Yeah. Target." He paused, and then quickly continued before he lost his nerve. "I specialise in assassination."

Silence descended.

"I know," she finally said.

His eyes widened in surprise. "You know?"

"Seth told me."

"Right," he said slowly.

Her non-reaction puzzled him. For some reason, he had her down as someone who would blast him apart for killing people. Even if he was ordered to do it. But he guessed he was wrong. He supposed that since she was a transgenic, she must have been exposed to quite a lot of it at some point.

But she looked uneasy when she asked, "What happened to your…uh…target."

Alec tensed. Evading her gaze, he replied flatly, "Eliminated."

She sucked in a sharp breath. The sparks in her eyes intensified.

"Don't you feel anything at all? How could you say it just like it's a normal thing to do?" she asked, sounding perplexed. "So, I guess after the 'elimination' you just went back to Manticore and wait for the next order to kill?" she bit out in disgust.

Alec swallowed. So his initial assessment had been correct after all.

Exhaling loudly, she sagged into the couch, her agitation seeping out of her visibly. "I suppose you don't really have a choice."

Something else escaped from her lips but it was too faint for him to catch. He thought it sounded something like; a bit like Seth. "What did you say?" he prodded.

She shook her head at him. "Nothing."

They sat in silence for a moment before he finally said, "She shouldn't have been there."

Max looked up at him questioningly.

"I couldn't retract in time. The bullet caught her. Killed her instantly," Alec explained numbly.

Her eyes softened. "You cared for her, didn't you?"

"She was innocent."

"It was an accident, right?"

Was it? Was it an accident? "Yeah," he finally admitted. "I didn't go back to Manticore after that."

Max frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Something clicked, I guess. It all seemed wrong." He paused. "And I wanted out."

"You ran off?" she asked incredulously.

Alec nodded. And then a bitter smile twisted his lips. "But they caught me and sent me back to reindoctrination." He pointed to the tape recorder. "That was how I remembered what happened."

He shrugged. "So here I am," he finished lightly.

Max stared at him thoughtfully. "You were not kidding about joining us, were you?"

Alec grinned. "You've kept off Manticore's radar for so long that I thought it might be a good idea."

"It's not going to be the same with you," Max said evasively.

"Why?"

Max sighed. "You know I can't tell you."

"Fine. Tell me something else then."

"I've got nothing to tell."

"Tell me about Ben."

Her eyes flew up to his in shock. "Who told you about Ben?"

Alec shrugged casually. Inwardly, he realised by her reaction that this was a sensitive issue. "You're close?" he asked softly.

She stared at him wordlessly, and then he saw her eyes clouding over. Uh oh, he thought with apprehension.

Without a word, she looked away from him, as if she could not bear to look at him. It was almost as strange as having Jack stare at him. But it kind of confirmed the suspicion he had after he had thought about it. There were not only four of them out there; there were at the very least five of them who had switched sides.

"Ben and I are twins. That's it, isn't it?" he asked quietly, placing a hand on her shoulders.

She stiffened.

He shuffled closer, but she did not move away. Her citrus and flowers scent surrounded him. "You can tell me, you know." He tugged her slowly until he could see her face. To his horror, there were tears running down her cheeks.

Alec, you idiot, he scolded himself.

"Hey," he soothed softly, wrapping both his arms around her. "Look, don't answer if you don't want to."

She sniffed, a sound which wrenched his heart. And then to his surprise, she leaned against him. Rubbing her back gently, he murmured, "It's okay, Max."

She remained so silent and so still that he thought she had fallen asleep in his arms.

When she spoke, her voice was far away. "We were running, and Ben turned back. He wanted to collect something from the dorm. A card." Her lips twisted. "The whole place was already in chaos, and he got caught in the crossfire. He died because of a card."

Her voice caught.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Pulling her closer, he pressed his lips on the top of her head and slowly rocked back and forth until her sobs receded.

Alec was having the best sleep he had ever experienced in his entire life. A comfortable warmth was pressed against his chest and his hands were in contact with something silky and smooth. He felt safe, secure and he did not want to move an inch if he could help it.

The scent of citrus and flowers permeated his senses. Max, he thought at the back of his mind as he snuggled closer against the soft body in his arms. The feline in him demanded that he stayed right there.

The only thing which marred his languid comfort was the feel of something cold and hard against the back of his neck.

Mind still fuzzy with sleep, he struggled to process the information. Cold and hard?

And then it dawned on him.

His eyes opened instantly. A feeling of dread began in the pit of his stomach and crawled up his spine. The cold, hard object shifted a little, but remained in contact with his skin as he slowly turned around.

Then he froze.

Seth was holding a semi-automatic against his neck. The green-eyed transgenic's expression was frosty.

Alec gulped.

He was a dead man.

t.b.c.

A/N: I know, I know…Alec seems to be perpetually in trouble, lol! Good news is, well, for me anyway, is that the next chapter is the final chapter. (:grins:) I hope to get reviews from you guys, and if anything is still unclear to you, this is the last chance for me to clarify it in the story.