Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel. Yet...
Story: The big reunion of Max and Alec arrives!
A/N: I want to give a huge Thank You! to those awesome readers who took the time to review: a reader, rogue20, timetowaste247, dooski, Lizzie Leigh, RRaine, mel, and src13. You guys are amazing! Your kind reviews really helped inspire me to write this chapter. I hope I did it justice... So here's the next installment! Happy Reading!

Alec's breathing came in short bursts as he made his way to Logan's as fast as he could. He looked down at his watch. Damn! Asha called me five minutes ago! I'm not gonna make it in time!

Alec saw the place ahead and blurred up the driveway, leaping up the stairs to the front door two at a time. The front door was unlocked, and he pushed it open roughly and headed for the next staircase.

He felt like his heart was about to beat right out of his chest. He could feel the throb of the blood forcibly pumped through his body at this stressful exertion. It had only in part to do with the running; the fight-or-flight responses kicked in inside Alec's body mostly because Max was just inside this building, according to that awful phone call.

Alec reached the door to Logan's bedroom and stared in confusion at the scene that greeted him. He hadn't known what to expect, but it certainly wasn't Asha on the hardwood floor cradling a traumatized Logan in her arms.

The pair looked up as Alec stepped into the room. Logan's eyes were wide in shock, as if he'd seen a ghost. Asha just looked sad and scared, like she was on the verge of crying. Alec, though, had no time to waste on analyzing the pair of Ordinaries.

"Where's Max?" he asked, looking frantically at Asha.

The blonde swallowed roughly before meeting Alec's eyes with her own pleading ones. "She – she's gone, Alec. She just got up and walked away!"

Alec scanned the room in growing confusion, trying to process what she was telling him. "What the hell happened here?"

"Max, she came here, and she…" Asha trailed off slowly.

Logan spoke after a quick shake of the head. "Sh-she left. She just… left. …You just missed her," he added, staring in disbelief at the floor.

Alec was still confused, and he asked with a frown, "But, what was she doing here in - "

"She was trying to kill me." Logan stared up defiantly at Alec, as if daring him to make some sarcastic remark.

Alec, though, was in no mood for sarcasm. "But… she didn't. Why did she stop?"

Logan snorted a derisive laugh at Alec. "How should I know? She just did. She… she had a knife, and then she chucked it into the wall all of a sudden. Then she left. That's all."

Alec's mind felt numb. "Did she say where she was going? Leave any sign at all?" He had a feeling he knew the answer, but he felt it was his obligation to ask.

Logan just stared at the floor again, once more lost in thought, and Asha shook her head.

"She got up and walked away," she repeated softly.

Alec swallowed before he was able to speak again. "Then I have to go find her," he said as he turned to leave.

"Alec, wait!" Alec spun around to face a pleading Asha. "It's just… She's not the Max you knew anymore! …She's dangerous! Please, Alec, just let her go!"

Alec narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you crazy? I'm not gonna 'just let her go', not after all this! She's confused, and she needs a friend now more than ever, and you want me to just leave her alone?"

Logan seemed to snap out of it and looked up at Asha as if seeing her for the first time. "Look, just 'cuz she came here with a knife doesn't mean she's not Max anymore. We can still get her back! We just have to go find her!"

Asha looked guiltily at Logan and Alec from the floor.

Logan began to stand up. "C'mon, we have to get going. She only left a short while ago, but she's fast." The older man gathered up a coat and started to strap on his leg-enhancing exoskeleton.

Alec barely stopped a derisive snort of laughter of his own at Logan trying to tell him all about how fast Max could run. As if Alec didn't know how fast any Manticore alum could undoubtedly go. But Max didn't have a whole lot of time, and he wasn't about to waste any time arguing with Logan over petty issues of pride.

"Logan, what're you talkin' about? You can't do this," Alec said with a light but firm tone.

Logan glanced up from his legs. "What do you mean, I can't do this? Of course I can. It's Max we're talking about."

"Right. Max, the girl who can't cough in the same room as you without giving you a deadly virus specifically designed to fit your DNA sequencing." Logan glared bitterly at the blunt transgenic. "Plus, to put the black icing on our metaphorical cake, she's actually trying to kill you! Do you have a death wish? Because if you go chasing her down like some selfless knight in shining armor, she's gonna be forced to reconsider the whole killing thing, and it might not go so well for you that time. Are you willing to take that risk?"

"For Max, yes!"

Alec glared as he said, "OK, so let's say you come, she sees you, and goes into her trained 'attack mode' again. She touches you, you get the virus, and you die. Or, she just kills you with that knife of hers, or with some gun she found lying around. Either way, you die, and it's her fault. Do you honestly think she's ever gonna forgiver herself for that?"

Logan kept a silent glare in place as he stared at Alec defiantly.

"I don't, either. I know her too well, and I know what Manticore can make people do."

"Not even Manticore could keep me from Max," Logan persisted.

Alec lifted his face to the heavens for a moment and closed his eyes, fists clenched at his sides, before returning his intense gaze to the older man. Max didn't have time for this! "Logan. You love Max. I get that. What I need you to get is that you would only get in the way here. The last thing Max needs right now is to see you all over again, making her either kill you or bolt. We both want to find her, right? Keep her safe? Well, if you really want her to be safe, stay here. I'm not gonna say it again." Alec turned to leave.

"Alec."

The transgenic paused before reaching the door, not bothering to turn around.

"Just... call me when you find her."

Alec looked over his shoulder at the resigned defeat tinging Logan's voice. His lips formed a line that tilted upwards at the corners ever so slightly, the closest thing to a smile he could achieve right then. He nodded at Logan with grateful eyes.

As quickly as he could manage, Alec blurred out of the old house and down the street, chasing after any signs of Max.

452 managed to keep her pace to a brisk walk until she exited the house. As soon as the front door opened to the outside world, though, the realization hit her that she couldn't go back now. She could never undo what she did just then. Or, rather, didn't do. Suddenly, the future seemed murky, and fear reigned over every other confused feeling creeping inside of her. Of their own volition, her feet picked up the pace until 452 discovered that she was running, sprinting, as fast as she could. The world blurred by in a whirlwind of twilight, and 452 passed without seeing.

Finally, she pulled her feet to a desperate halt when she reached an abandoned-looking old building near the outskirts of town, as far away from her target as she could get. She slipped inside and saw with relief that it was empty.

To have something to hold onto, 452 found a welcome distraction in studying her surroundings. A quick run-through of the place turned up an unlit bedroom on the second floor. It hadn't been used in years, as far as 452 could tell. A layer of dust coated everything, and a musty smell filled the air. There were even some cobwebs hanging untouched from the rusted-over light fixture on the ceiling. Just as well. No one would come to find her invading somebody's home.

Whoever had lived there had left in a hurry. They hadn't bothered to take their furniture with them, because most of it was still there. The room had a bed and a dusty lamp and a cramped wooden writing desk with a small wooden chair to match.

452 wiped a finger on the seat of the chair and looked at her dust-covered fingertip with her night vision. She moved to examine the dark bedspread. The cloth was patterned in dark green and burgandy, but it did nothing to hide the large coffee stain in the middle, or the ever-present dust coating.

She grabbed the ends of the spread and gave it a quick, hard shake, sending a cloud of dust into the air that made her sneeze several times before it settled on the floor. She sat down gently, and the bed was mercifully soft. Now that she was alone, maybe she could get her head straight.

452 was so scared. She was contemplating the possible courses of action available to her at this point in her flop of a mission, but she just couldn't think of anything that made sense. Or anything that she was willing to do.

Why couldn't I just kill him? She was thinking with desperation, trying to dissect her mind in its resolve to leave the mission, the entire reason for her existence in this city, unfinished. But the fact that she had never been trained in human emotion and fear was, once more, all too keen in her mind.

452 wished she had a friend to talk to, someone who could make all of this make sense, someone who could understand how she felt and could comfort her. She was badly missing her transgenic brother.

I couldn't make myself do it. Sympathy for a target had never, ever been a factor to consider at Manticore. A target was a target. You eliminated targets. You did not think about what kind of pain they were in, seeing you standing above them, clutching a knife aimed at their chests. You did not have haunted dreams about their scruffy-bearded faces, as realistic as if they had actually happened; dreams of you dancing with them, kissing them, having them comfort you while you were scared or sick with seizures.

How could those really have been just dreams? They felt so real, like memories. Not like 452 had many of those at all, but she knew these were no ordinary dreams. Flashbacks. They were flashbacks, never more than a couple of seconds in length, spiraling through her guilt-wracked brain. Flashbacks to another life that somehow involved the man she was sent to kill.

This thought terrified 452 even more than the flashbacks themselves. Who exactly was that man? How did he know her, for surely a look of sad recognition crossed his face as he beheld the sight of her ready to stab him? Why did Manticore want him dead? Why was he kissing me?

Fear, guilt, and frustration climaxed to a painful level. She couldn't remember, and now she couldn't move forward.

Sobs shook her whole slim frame. 452 didn't notice the tears making tracks in the sweat on her face that came with those dreams, those flashbacks. She was too busy trying to make the pain and frustration go away. Maybe, just maybe, if she cried hard enough, all of the pain would drain out of her until she had nothing left inside. Then she wouldn't have to feel anything ever again.

452 knew that planning out her next move would have to wait until she could calm down and think logically, but she couldn't see that happening any time soon. Sleep. Wake up and then maybe you'll be able to think clearly. But sleep would almost certainly bring dreams of Logan Cale. Nightmares. Sleep would not be restful at all.

So instead, 452 curled up on the bed in the dark room, hands hugging her knees, forehead resting on them, in a fetal position. Silent tears slipped down her copper cheeks, her slight body gently rocking back and forth. No thoughts. If she didn't think, she wouldn't hurt. That way, she could calm down. Find peace. No thoughts.

Alec sprinted down the city streets at an inhuman speed. It had been all he could do not to stand still and breathe in large, selfish pulls of oxygen when he had first detected the fresh and feminine scent that was uniquely Max flavoring the air nearby Joshua's old house. But the urgency of the situation called him to keep moving. He chased her scent halfway across the town and knew that she must have been blurring along with a sense of urgency of her own. Not that he could blame her.

On the way, Alec cursed and called himself nine kinds of fool, summoning all the expletives his mind could conjure. Why hadn't he realized what was going on sooner? Looking back at everything, it seemed so obvious. Of course Manticore would brainwash her, you idiot! You were just too wrapped up in your own little drama to notice! Self-pity and stupid, blind jealousy!

Jealousy? What did he possibly have to be jealous of? He was the perfect human, designed to be gorgeous and deadly. And yet you still threw yourself a pity-party when Max was looking for Logan and not you. She wanted to find him so she could kill him, you brainless, ignorant ape! If you had been able to properly detach yourself emotionally from the situation, you might have been able to stop it all and brought her back to TC before the shit hit the ceiling fan!

Alec forced himself to stop driving deeper into self-pity and to focus on the task at hand. Max... where could you have gone?

All of a sudden, the scent broke away from the street and an old building commanded Alec's attention. Without faltering, he raced inside the structure and paused to familiarize himself with the new surroundings.

The building had a curious smell, a mixture of must and decay with the new addition of the fresh and lively scent of Max. Dust seemed to be the only permanent resident, and Alec quickly realized that Max must be upstairs.

He climbed the steps with renewed vitality, but he took care to keep silent. He didn't want to freak Max out by barging in on her, and frankly, he didn't know what to expect from a brain-drained Max. His soldier mind offered a clipped warning: Tread with caution.

Alec slowed his step as he heard a sharp sniffle coming from the first room to the right. He peered inside and hoped fervently that whoever was there couldn't hear the hammering of his heart in his chest.

All it took was that one look into the room, and the sight of her there stopped any movement of his body, his heartbeat, his breathing, his brain activity, everything. The sight of her, just sitting there, pulsated throughout his entire body, taking over for his previously hammering heart. Max pumped life into him he never knew he was missing. She was all he was aware of.

Abruptly, Alec was aware of her actions, beyond just her simple presence. His heart constricted at seeing Max, the strongest person he ever knew, curled in a fetal position on the tattered bed, completely dissolved in tears.

He didn't know he'd moved until he found himself sitting on the bed next to her, gently wrapping his arms around her sobbing, shaking form. Max made no protest, so Alec leaned further into the embrace, absorbing the violent movements of her sob-wracked body with his own.

He pulled Max closer until he held her completely in his arms, in his lap, her back against his chest. She felt so soft and fragile, like a porcelain doll. He'd never imagined Max could feel so vulnerable. It only made him want to comfort her even more.

His arms circled her waist and felt the slick tears slide over them in quick succession. He lowered his head into hers just enough to allow him to plant a small kiss in her hair and rested his cheek on the top of her head, all the while rocking back and forth gently as if soothing an infant. Max's shaking slowed down and Alec felt her body relax into his, leaning into him and laying back on him like a warm pillow.

Holding her gently like this felt so natural to Alec, even though the Max he knew would rather be held by a cactus. Still, it made him realize something else. She was his best friend, and so much more. She was everything he would ever need, and he wanted to keep her safe in his arms like that forever.

The power of that revelation sent him reeling, even as he held Max, but he refused to throw it away. He couldn't deny it, not while the truth was so glaringly obvious. Alec wanted to stay like that forever. He wanted to be with Max forever. His arms tightened around her, and he placed another soft kiss on her head as a sense of calm washed over him.

After a few minutes of silently resting in that position, Max stirred in his lap and finally turned to see who was holding her. Her tear-streaked face tilted up towards his, and red-rimmed, watery brown eyes widened as they met slightly hollowed-out, sleep-deprived hazel ones.

Max turned fully in his lap and stared in wonder at his face. A few more tears slipped out of the chocolate orbs as they widened, and a small sparkle restored some life to them as she reached slowly for Alec's right hand with both of her slender ones.

Alec found that he was unable to speak, or make any noise at all, as she lifted his hand and gently held it to her face, pressing the palm lightly against her cheek, a small tremulous smile alighting on her lips. Alec's heart caught in his throat, and he felt his own eyes start to water, threatening to spill over in a very un-masculine manner.

But he couldn't help it! Here she was, Max Guevara, in his arms and caressing him, looking at him with love in her eyes. Alive. God, she's alive! He felt like laughing! Indeed, as he blinked tears out of his eyes, a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. Alec's hand started to tremble as it brushed against her silken skin.

Max noticed his shaking hand, and her eyes darted to it for an instant and then back to his face, shooting him a cursory glance with a slight worried frown. "What's wrong?" she asked in a small voice that came out as more of a croak through a throat raw with old sobs.

Alec shook his head slightly and swallowed a few times before responding in a soft voice, "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." A half-sob, half-laugh broke through his composure, and it turned his features into a kaleidoscope of smiles that broke and reappeared as he continued to try and swallow the lump lodged in his throat.

Alec felt Max's arms twine around his middle, wrapping him in a hug, her head resting against his chest. He felt her breath on his shirt, right by his heart. He returned the hug and took in her scent he'd followed with a long slow breath. A few days ago, Alec thought he might never get to have her heady scent fill his lungs ever again. And now she was here in his arms.

"You found me... I've missed you...," she spoke in a soft and tired voice that was muffled by his chest.

Alec's heart soared. "I've missed you, too. More than you know."

She let go of him and turned around in his lap in a slow, dreamlike speed, so that her back was to his chest again, and she pulled a confused Alec's arms around her waist, just as he'd held her before she'd turned to face him. She started to shiver in his embrace, and he held her tighter without thought, automatically cradling her and rocking her gently.

"Max..."

Abruptly, she started crying again, and she spoke between sobs as if that had opened the floodgates. "I-I'm so scared! I couldn't do it... I couldn't kill him! ...What do I do now? ...so lost... What are they gonna do to me?... ...Why was he kissing me, Ben?!"

Alec felt numb and strangely betrayed. His stomach turned; he felt somewhat queasy. The room that had held such warmth and wonder now became a frozen wasteland, the dead of winter and all of Earth's ice and snow gathered into a single small space, instantly turning Alec into a being of frosty hopelessness. It seemed that Max hadn't missed Alec, after all. It seemed she had no idea who 'Alec' even was.

But even frozen inside, the candle he held that burned for Max wouldn't be put out. He couldn't bring himself to shatter her here, rip her from this moment of comfort with her 'brother'. He knew it was wrong, but it was the only option.

Alec kept his arms around her, cradling her still. "Shhhh, shhhh. It's OK, Max. Everything's gonna be OK," he lied.

"Don't leave me, Ben! Don't go back just yet...," she implored in a bone-weary voice tinged with ebbing fear.

"I'm not goin' anywhere, Maxie." Alec stared dully at the mattress, feeling a part of himself die inside as she failed to realize who it was comforting her in her greatest hour of need.

A/N: Yeah, I know! Evil of me, but the angst won out in the end. This story is sort of writing itself, so I couldn't really help it. But fear not! It can't be totally angst all the way through, or I'd end up depressing myself, too. Anyways, thanks for reading! Reviews are always more than welcome. Please, let me know what you thought about this. It helps me improve the story and motivates me to keep going with it.

See ya next chapter!