Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel. But this is the place where I get to play with it!
Story: This deals mostly with Terminal City, its organization, and Alec's thoughts on all of it, including a couple of memories. And of course, there's the chat with Original Cindy.
A/N: I tried to make this one a quicker update, so you wouldn't have to re-read the whole story before going on to this chapter, LOL. This one's kinda long, but I guess that's better than being way too short, right? I know I promised you all some MA action, but it's gonna be slow going for obvious plot complications. But I felt like dipping Alec's feet into it a bit, unbeknownst to our loveable rogue X5. Happy reading! (Ha, there ya go, HYPERLITE.HO. I said it before the chapter started! lmao ;P)

Alec led OC to the place she had originally set out for, the HQ building. On the way, they passed the unconscious creep who had attacked OC, so Alec scooped up his limp form and carried him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. A groan escaped the transhuman's lips, but that was the only sound he made for the rest of the trip.

The day was getting warmer as the sun climbed higher in the sky. It was going to be a sunnier day than TC had had in quite some time. More people were seen walking the streets than in the past, and Alec couldn't help but smile. If people were openly taking to the streets, it must mean that his Special Operatives' force was getting the job done. A brainchild of his actually working out for a change was a much-needed, if unexpected, sight to his sore eyes.

Most of the transgenics that were out and about darted eyes around cautiously, though. Well, that was to be expected with all the hell taking hold of the place lately. Alec certainly didn't blame them. Terminal City wasn't the safest place in the world, far from it. But he would change that. If it was the last thing he would ever do on God's green earth, he would.

They finally arrived to TC HQ, and Alec saw Cindy's face register some shock at the bustling activity once he opened the massive brown double doors marking the front.

Transgenics and transhumans of every sort walked through the lobby with an air of purpose. There definitely were a lot of purposes they could be rushing to. Upkeep of the broken city was a daunting task, to say the least.

The transgenics running around the command center that they affectionately called their headquarters, or HQ for short, were under-officers rushing to get their daily reports together. These lower-level officers had control over assigned areas of Terminal City. Their whole purpose was to keep their area safe and keep track of the population. Citizens could go to them with any complaints or requests to pass on for approval, so the under-officers were both very popular and very much in danger in their line of work, depending on who made 'requests'. If any situation arose, they would contact HQ immediately and let their personal CO's know.

The CO's were in charge of certain aspects of Terminal City, such as food, medicine, housing, defense, and renovations/restorations. Together they formed a sort of inner circle of command, all of whom were fiercely loyal to TC and their cause. They would handle problems and keep detailed records of what they had and what they needed. They kept files of "shopping" or "Christmas" lists, as Alec liked to call them, and presented them at their frequent meetings.

Finally, the chain of command stopped at Alec. The inner circle and everyone they had charge over answered to Alec, the CO. Not one of the CO's. The CO. That was his title, so to speak, developed by everyone who was still loyal to him.

He still felt some of them listened to him out of respect for Max, who had left Alec in charge while she was gone. Alec found it hard to believe they respected his leadership for the reasons Max had given him. He remembered the conversation clearly, even though it was a memory several months old by now.

"I just don't understand, Max. Why me? I mean, why not get one of the guys who started the whole thing, like Mole or Dix or Luke? Or - or Josh! Anybody!"

"C'mon, Alec. It's obvious. You're a natural leader. And, as much of a pain in the ass as you are, I know I can count on you. You've had my back for the past couple years, and I can't think of anyone else who could pull it off."

"I'm no leader, Max! I'm a loner. Always lookin' out for Number One, y'know?"

Max laughed. "You put up such a tough-guy front, you big softie!" she said, smiling as she hit him lightly on the shoulder. "Besides, everyone in TC loves you. Mole and the others may have come here first, but you were the first one to get them to come together, remember? They had that whole ridiculous notion that X-series should stay here, freaks there. You brought them together. You united them against White and his goons. And you can keep them together if I ever have to leave for a while. You've earned their respect." She looked at the ground. "And mine."

Alec was still stunned by that confession of hers. He knew it took a lot to make her admit that he wasn't the screw-up she had him tagged as since she met him. She was so strong. Alec had always admired that about her, even when he had first met her in Manticore, before they had developed their weird friendship, if it could be called that.

He knew now that it was more of a mutual respect than a friendship, at least on Max's part. He considered her his best friend, though, but he would never tell her that. Before. He had done some serious growing up in the past three months. If he ever - no, when he saw her again, he would make sure she knew. Life was too short to let people you care about never know. Alec promised himself that he would tell Max that she was his best friend in the world, one of his only friends, before it was too late again.

Much of the Spec. Op's crew awaiting deployment waved eagerly and saluted their leader as he walked through HQ, evidently even more excited since he was wearing one of their uniforms. Alec nodded to them and returned casual waves and salutes, which made them smile wider. He was grateful for their enthusiasm and loyalty, but he still felt a bit embarrassed at their vehement adulation. Well, they did volunteer. It's only natural to love their jobs. Alec felt that most of them truly did see him as a general, and he was beloved by his troops. It was only the outsiders who had yet to show loyalty, or worse, outright spat in the face of authority, that had the crew looking sombre as death while they patrolled the streets.

All wore the gold badges Alec had issued for them. Well, gold-plated. Gold spray-painted, maybe. Terminal City's treasury was scraping bare bottom and didn't have the cash to get real gold badges. The important thing was that they looked like gold. That was a necessity, giving them a symbol of authority, however frivolous it seemed on the surface.

Mole, the lizardy resident weapons tech and chain-smoking grouch, had certainly argued against the whole thing. That staff meeting, that particular conversation, was not quite as pleasant as his other memory.

"Oh, what, are we gonna give 'em pretty pink ribbons in their hair, too? Maybe buy 'em some Rolex watches while we're at it. Hell, we have so friggin' much money to blow, why not buy them a truck from the friendly neighborhood Seattle Fire Department? Then they could parade around and show the rebels who's boss, tails wagging all the while, complete with a lovely siren!"

But Alec had slammed his foot down. "That's enough, Mole. I'm not asking for a hundred 24-karat-gold badges and hefty paychecks on the side. These people volunteered, 'cuz they're sick 'n' tired of the way things are becoming here. Like all of us should be.

"The lawless people here won't listen to someone who doesn't have sure-fire authority, and just handing them each a gun only makes them seem like friggin' vigilantes, no better than the bullies 'n' scum they arrest. How would it look to the rest of the people if even more 'bullies' and 'street toughs' were poured out to handle the situation? In my name? That small symbol of authority makes them seem safer and more in control than those they fight against. It lets the people know that they are there to protect, not harm, and that, my friend, is why we need those badges.

"Besides, if you're so friggin' worried about our expenses, maybe you should cut down on your cigar intake," he finished to a speechless, glowering Mole. Dix started clapping his hands slowly.

Alec snapped back to the present matters at hand as he passed the SIC of the Spec. Op's at his desk, Alec's right-hand man in the law enforcement and his best friend, second only to Max. "Hey, buddy! How's the city lookin'?" he asked amiably as he patted Joshua's shoulder.

The dog-man transhuman smiled back. "Alec! Terminal City looks good. Joshua can paint tonight!"

Cindy's mouth fell open. "Doggie-dog? Whatchu doin' in a uniform?" she asked with a big smile.

Joshua caught sight of her behind Alec and leapt up, almost knocking down his desk in the process, and rushed over to capture her in a bone-crunching hug. "Original Cindy!" he said excitedly.

Cindy started to wheeze a bit before Joshua let her go. She coughed before she was able to speak again, then said, "Josh, one near-death experience a day is all Original Cindy can handle, aiight?"

Joshua smiled sheepishly. "Joshua missed Original Cindy. Joshua misses Max."

Cindy smiled sadly. "Me too, Boo. Me too."

Alec cleared his throat loudly to change the subject. "Ah, well. Josh, listen, I need you to drop this off at the prison," he said, dropping the passed-out nomalie onto the desk unceremoniously. He flexed his shoulders with the weight of the body now lifted and curled his lip in disgust. "He tried to kill Cindy."

Joshua started growling. "OK, Alec. Vigilante bitch is goin' down."

Cindy couldn't stop a small laugh from escaping her at Josh's new use of her old phrase. Joshua smiled again at Cindy. "Talk later, Original Cindy. OK?"

"Aiight, Boo. But first I gotta talk ta Alec. See ya 'round, Doggie-dog."

"See ya 'round, Original Cindy!" Josh called as he picked up the limp transgenic effortlessly and jogged towards the prison.

Alec shook his head and smiled. Then he turned back to Cindy. "OK, let's go to my office."

"I bet you say dat ta all the girls," Cindy said jokingly.

Alec gave a small laugh. "Not so much these days. Here, it's just up these stairs."

They climbed a tall flight of stairs and down a hallway with smooth cement floors and walls, lit by the occasional hanging lightbulb. Alec stuck a tarnished brass key into the lock of a solid metal door painted in the same brown color as the rest of the old refurbished factory.

The door swung open to reveal an average-sized office cluttered with papers and file folders on a thick wooden desk. A green easy-chair with some stuffing coming out at the back sat against the wall to the right, and next to it stood a rickety, tall stand-lamp with a yellow-stained lamp shade that must have been white once. A rather new-looking silver desk lamp added to the light in the room.

Alec had brought that lamp from his old apartment, along with the chair and the television that sat on the left side of the room. The TV was somewhat large to be crammed into his office. His desk took up most of the space, as it should, being the place where most of his work got done. But the TV was a necessity. As much as he would have liked to, Alec refrained from using it as his beloved 'boob tube'. That TV was strictly for monitoring the news and the occasional Eyes Only hack. Not like we have cable here anyways.

A bulletin board nearby the television was covered completely by overlapping newspaper and magazine articles. Some were highlighted, and all of them had headings that forewarned some talk of transgenics.

The only other things decorating the walls of the gloomy office, besides the large window with the blinds down behind the desk, were domed mirrors in the corners of the ceiling. Their purpose was to warn the current slave of the office that someone else was in the room. It was a 'just in case' precaution that made Max choose that room specifically for her office. Alec suspected that she had foreseen long monotonous hours chained to the hulking desk that would deaden anyone's senses, transgenic or not.

Alec motioned for Cindy to take the softer green chair and headed for the only other one in the room. "So, Cindy, not that it's not good to see ya, but what are you doing here?" he asked.

The dark woman frowned at him. "Now why does everybody ask that? That's jus' what you're boy down there said," she told him as she pointed to the floor below.

Alec's smile didn't quite reach his gold-green eyes. "Well, OC, Terminal City isn't exactly a vacation resort. The ads would suck!" He spread his hands dramatically. "'Come visit almost-sunny Terminal City, home to deadly biotoxins and transgenics! We have maybe enough money to accommodate another family of four!'"

"OK, OK, I gotcha. So you really strapped for cash that bad?" she asked, frowning.

"Well, that was a slight exaggeration. A family of six would be more like it," a smiling Alec answered sarcastically.

OC bit her lip worriedly. "Look, I bet you could bum some dough offa Logan. That boy is almost as dedicated to this place as my girl."

Alec snorted. "That boy," he enunciated, injecting the euphemism with a strong dose of sarcasm, "is strapped for cash himself. All those Eyes Only hacks, and his monthly bills 'n' all, along with being severed from the Cale family fortune, and the guy barely has enough to keep his informants quiet. No, Terminal City will be getting no financial help from the great Eyes Only."

Cindy shook her head at Alec sadly. "Well, there's gotta be somethin' you can do 'bout it."

"We're doing what we can, and we're getting by so far. But you're dodging my question. What are you doing here, OC?"

Cindy pursed her lips. "I had... some news... that I thought I should show you. But you seem ta have your hands full, so maybe it wasn't a good idea after all...," she trailed off uncertainly.

Alec laughed. "You sound exactly like Logan when he knows something important that he doesn't want to share with me. C'mon, Cindy. You came all this way and almost got killed in the process. The least you could do is cash in." Cindy frowned at him slightly. "OK, think of it as a 'thank you' for me savin' your butt." He smiled at her roguishly.

OC smiled back. "I already said, 'Thank you,' Boo. But you're right. I came all this way." She sighed and shrugged the Jam Pony bag off of her back and rummaged through it. Finally, she produced a manila envelope and tossed it to Alec, who caught it and stared.

"What's this?" he asked, confused.

Cindy sighed impatiently. "Just open it!"

Alec held his hands up defensively. "OK, OK!" He lifted the flap and held it upside down, catching the content as it slid out. He scanned the photograph and saw a TV screen in the center showing an Eyes Only broadcast. It was on a street in Seattle that he remembered passing on the way to work countless times back in the day.

Just as he was about to ask Cindy what the big deal about the pic was, he saw it. On the far right edge of the snapshot was a girl, right about his age, with long dark hair facing the TV screen. Alec looked up at Cindy with wide eyes. "Is this...?"

"I don' know. It might be. I jus' don' know, suga. Sketchy took this yesterday, and he showed me, 'n' I thought the same thing. We decided not to tell Logan, just in case, but... I had to tell somebody!"

"Why not tell Logan?" he asked, even though he thought the man deserved it, with all his keeping things from him.

"Well, it might not be her. We got no clue, just from seein' her back, but I can't shake the feelin', y'know? I think my girl might be back in town. If it's not her, Logan'll jus' get his hopes up for nothin', and I can't do that to the man... But it sure as hell looks like her."

Alec's eyes returned to the picture. "Yeah, it sure does," he said absently. That stance. The stiff way she held her upper body. Her hips and legs. Her hands balled into fists at her sides. She looked tense, like a tightly coiled spring. Alec nodded to himself slowly. "That has to be her," he said quietly, forgetting for the moment that he had company.

Cindy stared at him in surprise. "How do you know?"

Alec jerked his head up. "Uh... Look," he said, pointing to the picture."The way she's standing. She's at attention. Like a soldier."

Wonder registered on the dark woman's face. "You're sure?"

Alec felt himself growing more sure by the second. "Yes. That's Max. I'm sure." He didn't want to tell Cindy that he could also tell by the shape of her slender, muscular body. He himself didn't want to ponder that one.

"Oh my God!" Cindy cried happily. "What do we do now? Why isn't she comin' ta see us?"

Alec knew it was possible that Max was avoiding them so she wouldn't lead Manticore's goons to them. That would be such a Max kind of thing to do. But somehow he didn't think so. Alec frowned. Something just didn't click. "How did she get here?" he asked quietly.

Cindy frowned, too. "That's right. She must've escaped. She was Manticore's prisoner for the last three months, right? So if she's here, she must've escaped." Cindy sounded as if she was trying to convince herself more than Alec. "Well, in any case, what we gon' do about it?" She looked at Alec intently, as if he held all the answers. Funny; about a year ago, Alec would have paid to see one of his bad-ass female work associates give him that look. After three months of everyone looking to him as if he kept the key to the universe in his pocket, the look had lost its lustre.

"Hate to say it, but there's really nothing we can do. I mean, c'mon. Seattle's a pretty big place. We can't just go around doing a 'Have you seen this girl?' -type thing. Especially not for Max. We'd only draw unwanted attention to her."

"But we can narrow it down, right? I mean, you and I both know that area. So if we just ask around nearby..."

"But who's to say she didn't leave that sector right after the sighting? Especially if she knows she's been made. She'd hightail it outta there for sure, to cover her butt. For all we know, she's not even in Seattle anymore."

Cindy stared dejectedly at the floor. Then she said in a small voice, "But then what do we do? We can't just let this go. This is Max we're talkin' 'bout! She's my family."

Family. The word that Max lived by. She would fight and die for family. That word was right up there with 'freedom' for her. They were inseparable, really. You found the freedom to love and to be yourself in your family, but you could only stay together as a family by living in freedom. Max had taught Alec that during their short time knowing each other.

Alec chuckled to himself. Maxie and her 'f-words'.

He had never thought of her as a sister. Sure, they were both Manticore, both X5s, but they were from different worlds when it came to both units and training. He wasn't part of her group of '09'ers, and he trained for solo missions and assassinations while she did 'group work', as he had teasingly called it in his days at Manticore. Judging by the way Max treated him all the time, she felt the same way. Alec was no brother to her. Friend, maybe. Family, in a far more vague sense of the term, perhaps. But not 'brother'. That label carried too much emotional weight for Max to use so loosely.

"She's my sista, Alec."

Alec looked at his friend. He knew that Original Cindy was indeed the closest thing Max had to a sister, ever since losing touch with her '09 transgenic ones. He had to respect that. He had to offer some comfort, even if it would prove fruitless.

"Alright. Tell ya what. I'll send some people out undercover to try and track her down tonight, OK? I'll send... I'll send Dalton. And Gem. They've known Max for a while, they'd love to help out. More importantly, they'd be able to fit in. We'll have to cover their barcodes, but it'll work just fine. But only tonight, OC, unless they find a trail worth following some more. Loyal people are getting harder to find. I can't afford to lose two more, even for a few days. OK?"

For the second time that day, Cindy threw her arms around Alec, and he patted her back in the hug awkwardly. "Thank you, Baby Boo."

"It's nothin'," he mumbled. It probably wouldn't help at all.

Max, wherever you are, I hope you know what you're doing.

tbc...

A/N: Okay, guys! Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know, whether you did or didn't. It tells me that my writing isn't for nothing! On that note, I just wanted to let my loyal readers know this: I know this story doesn't get a ton of reviews. I average about 3 to a chapter, but man, I love those 3! I'm not the type of person that demands a set number of reviews before continuing with a story. Honestly, I think that's pretty crappy of people, so I don't roll that way. So fear not, LOL. Even if only one person is reading and reviewing any of my stories, I'll keep it coming! That being said, please review! It's not a demand; it's a request.

And I wanted to give a big shout-out 'Thanks!' to my faithful reviewers over the last 7 chapters: CandyCentric, HYPERLITE.HO, Lizzie Leigh, Silverwolf 2006, Blue Eyed Dragon Girl, kiwilass, ladyfaith, RIP MuM i love you so much, Jen, and dooski. You guys are the best! Thanks for sticking with it! I'll do the same. See ya in chapter 9!

Yours truly, christique