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A Max/Alec fic.

Chapter Eight.

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Disclaimer: I still don't own dark angel ... sigh.

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A/N: Thanks again for the speedy reviews, guys! I love getting news messages in my inbox telling me to go to fanfiction dot net. (and I had to write it like that cuz last time it just deleted it...)

Anyways, so last chapter we got a bit more insight into Alec's character in this story, so in the next few chapters we'll get to see a bit more of him and Max, but with a few more characters as well, not just Logan or Original Cindy.

Aaandd ... Manticore is coming back into play in this chapter, so we'll get to see some "transgenics" in action!

Hehe, alright enough out of me ... I'm on a slight sugar high ...

As always, please read and review, I live for feedback! I've been updating this story a lot more because my other ones aren't getting as much reviews, so yay for my regulars!

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The next day, Max got a phone call. It was about 6 in the morning, and she woke to the sound of insistent ringing, and the warm body beside her wan't budging.

So, Max squirmed a bit to reach the phone, then settled back into her previous position beside Alec before answering the phone.

"You got Max," she said.

"It really is you," came a female's voice.

"Syl?" Max said, sitting up, causing Alec to stir. "Are you okay?"

She could practically hear her sister smile. "I'm good. So is Krit. We're back in town."

"That's great, when can I see you?"

"Well ..." her sister trailed off, and Max heard a knock at the door.

Grinning, Max hung up the phone and ran to the door, opening it and practically throwing herself into the arms of her brother, Krit.

She was so relieved to see them alive, she didn't bother trying to hold back the tears that fell from her eyes. She felt her sister's arms fold around the both of them, and they stood there in the hallway, holding each other and crying and laughing and not even caring who saw them.

"Um, Max, you alright?" Alec asked from behind her.

The three of them raised their heads, and Max turned to nod at him, and was about to speak but Syl said, "Ben? Is that you?"

She moved to hug him as well, but he held his hands up. "Not Ben."

Syl looked back at Max, who looked suddenly even more sad. She hadn't told them about what happened to Ben.

"This is Alec ... he helped me escape from Manticore. His designation's 494," she explained.

"Oh, okay," Syl said, and both she and Krit nodded.

"Well, hi, I'm Syl, and thanks," she said.

Alec nodded. "No problem."

Krit moved forward and clapped Alec on the shoulder. "Yeah, thanks for bringing our girl home."

"So, how'd you know I was back?" Max wondered.

"Logan called us, gave us the heads up," Krit said. "Now that you're back in the game, we've got a new plan."

"What kind of plan?"

Syl and Krit smiled. "A get rid of Manticore forever, kind of plan."

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It didn't take much work getting Syl and Krit a job at Jam Pony. Normal had seen the improvement in both Max and OC's work since he'd hired Alec, so he thought he'd take a shot with two more of Alec's friends.

There was something about that kid that he liked, and if keeping him happy meant keeping Max in line, then hiring a few more "workers" was an acceptable price to pay.

At least, that's what Max figured he was thinking, so she went with it.

Syl and Krit had filled her and Alec in on their plan, but it admittedly still had a few kinks, so Max decided they were going to play it smart this time, and not rush into anything. That's how they lost Ben, Tinga ... Zack... she wasn't going to sacrifice the lives of her brother and sister, or Alec, or any of the other "victims" of Manticore still in that hell-hole. Especially Joshua. She was going to save him, simple as that.

So, instead of missing a bunch of work her first week back, Max convinced Syl and Krit to apply at Jam Pony, it was good for the sector pass, and allowed them to pool their funds for supplies. Not that Logan wasn't willing to help out in that department.

Syl and Krit were crashing at Logan's, much to Max's dismay ... she wanted to spend as much time with her family as she could, but she also knew there wasn't enough room for everyone to stay at hers and OC's place. Plus, Logan had promised to help them out in any way he could.

Max stood in the shower, letting the water pour over her tense body, thinking about how things had been with Logan lately.

When he had walked in on her and Alec about to get busy, he had seemed almost mortified, but when she had talked to him next, he acted like the entire thing had never even happened, had immediately offered his services to their "cause".

She was happy things weren't weird between them, but she felt like things weren't entirely over, either. Not that she wanted to be with him. No way. Not after everything that's happened. I can't even think about him in that way anymore ... and let's be honest, all that time last year, and nothing happened? If you're gonna be with someone, you be with them, simple as that. Me and Logan were good friends, partners even, but lovers? As long as he understands that, we're good.

Now I just have to get over this nervousness around Alec.

It had been a week since the "incident" when Logan had walked in on them, and they still hadn't really talked about it. And Max really didn't see Alec as the "talking about his feelings" type.

Ugh, what is wrong with me? Since when do I over-analyze things like this? I see something I want, and I go after it. And I do want Alec. He's so ... yummy. Wow, that sounds trashy, but there it is. I mean, he risks everything to save me, to stop me from unintentionally hurting one of my friends, he can make me laugh when I feel like crying, and lets me cry on his shoulder whenever I'm just too down on myself. And HELLO to that body! My God, the only good thing you can say about Manticore is they "had" Alec.

"Knock knock," came a male voice from outside the door, and Max smiled slightly as she both heard and felt Alec enter the bathroom.

"Hey, I'll be out in a minute," she said, then felt a rush of cool air as the curtain was opened behind her.

"Hey! Cold!" she complained as he stepped in the shower.

She suddenly felt very naked, and moved to cover herself up, but he leaned in and kissed her softly before grabbing the soap from beside her and starting to clean himself.

"Don't mind me," he said innocently. "Won't be long."

Max playfully glared at him, but grabbed her towel from outside the shower and stepped out.

"So, you heading over to Logan's with Cindy?" he wondered from inside the shower.

"Yep, he managed to hack into Renfro's email, and said he found something interesting. You coming?"

There was a slight pause, then he said, "I don't know. Am I welcome there?"

"Of course you are," she said. "You're part of the team. Part of the family."

She heard Alec snicker. "Well, that's slightly gross on a few levels."

"Not like that, dufus," she told him. "Trust me, none of them see you as ... him."

"You mean Ben?"

Max hadn't wanted to tell him about Ben, but she felt that she owed him that much, and it had been one of the moments when she'd hid her face in his chest and cried.

She told him about Ben, about what Manticore had done to him, about what he was doing to himself and others on the outside world. How he had begged her not to let them take him. How he'd asked her to kill him. How she hadn't wanted to, but she had done it, for him.

When she had told Alec this, he had felt compassion for Max, and anger towards Manticore. He'd never really felt like he belonged there, and maybe that was why. Maybe he and his twin had that in common. And what Renfro had been planning to do to Max, to kill someone she obviously cared about, just to screw with her head? That had sealed the deal for Alec. He cared for Max more than he ever thought possible, and he wasn't gonna let some stuck-up blonde bitch do anything to hurt her.

"Yeah ... Ben. Trust me, it won't be an issue," Max said.

"Well, that's a relief, but I was thinking more about Logan," Alec said, shutting off the water and stepping out, not reaching for his towel immediately on purpose.

Max averted her gaze, looking at the wall behind his head.

Alec smiled. "You really need to work on this whole "shy" thing."

Max began to retort, but he was moving closer to her, and she felt powerless to stop him.

He was a breath away from her when he paused, looking into her half-closed eyes. "I like you."

Max was surprised by such a statement, but didn't have time to process or respond, because his lips descened upon hers with such a bittersweet softness that she just sighed into his mouth, dropping her towel.

She felt Alec smile, and bit his lower lip, causing him to gasp slightly.

She felt herself being picked up, and then they were back in the shower, the warm water cascading over them.

Alec kept her in his arms, leaning her into the wall of the shower as he trailed kisses down her neck to her collarbone, then dipping lower.

Max began to purr, wrapping her arms under his and up to his shoulders, pulling him closer to him as she felt a heat growing in the base of her stomach.

She felt Alec growing hard, and was about to guide him to her, when OC's voice came chiming from the other room.

"You two coming, or what?"

Max laughed at the irony of that statement, but slid herself down to the floor, both her and Alec panting hard, feeling less than relieved.

"We'll, uh ... continue this later?"

Alec nodded. "Definitely."

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Okay, end of chapter eight.

So this chapter was basically an "info" chapter. Explain everything that's about to happen so we can get to the fun "it's happening" part!

And ooh, almost some Max and Alec togetherness!! Will see more of that in the next chapter, and hopefully some Logan jealousy. I've said it before, I love Michael Weatherly, but I don't like the character of Logan, he just bugs me, and I love both Jensen Ackles and his character Alec ... and love the Max/Alec pairing ... so, anyways ... blah.

Until next time...!