Disclaimer: Lemme check... ... ... Nope. I still don't own Dark Angel. ...Damn...
Story: Logan receives a toneless phone call from Alec, and Max - I mean, 452 - um... well, you'll just have to read.
A/N: Hey, all! I'm back! After getting seriously depressed from my last attempt at posting a story on this site (it's called Stranded! and it's one of my best, but no one could read it...), I wanted to wait for the site's problems to blow over before trying anything more. I think the storm has passed now, so hopefully you guys can read this before it's forced to the number 10 story spot on the main DA page. (Phew!) That said, I would like to thank the lovely readers who've reviewed. A HUGE Thank You! to: timetowaste247, Mittel, Lizzie Leigh, dooski, src13,and Ellie. You guys are so awesome, and you keep my fingers at the keyboard!
...That concludes my rambling/complaining author's note. Happy Reading!

Chapter 13

Logan sat on his bed by the phone, staring dully at the wall. He absently heard Asha's even breathing in the back of his mind. She'd insisted on staying in his room for the remainder of the night, and Logan was too drained to argue. He didn't mind her presence, though. It was a source of solid consistency he could cling to as he lost himself in his dark and wandering thoughts.

It was so hard to believe that a mere hour ago, the love of his life had been in his bedroom after all their time apart. The harder pill that he just couldn't seem to swallow, though, was the knife she'd held above his chest.

He wasn't fooled. He knew that Manticore had obviously done something serious to mess with her head. It was like the time they'd tried to make Zack kill Logan, brainwashing him into thinking that he was Zack's and Max's enemy. Yeah, and look how that turned out. Zack, sent away to some ranch to live out his days in blissful ignorance. But this was Max, the woman he loved more than life itself. Logan's fist shook in frustration. I just can't do that to Max!

Logan glanced down at his watch for the hundredth time. Yes, it really had been an hour. Where was Alec? Surely he would've caught up with Max by now. He was, after all, a transgenic just like her.

Logan cringed. Just like her. He'd noticed something unsettling tonight that he hadn't taken the time to dissect. The two Manticore alums that had come to call tonight... They had the same eyes. Well, they had their differences, of course. Max's were large brown pools a man could drown in, and Alec's were a little smaller, of a hazel color. Normally, a bright fire could be seen burning in Max's eyes, and Alec's gleamed with mischief and amusement, two pairs of eyes as different as eyes could come.

But tonight, Logan glimpsed a terrifying similarity there. Tonight, their eyes held a mechanical soldier's frosty shield. Max's shield had broken a few times as she'd straddled Logan with that knife, but the rest of the time, he stared into the eyes of a trained killer. Alec, in turn, had come into Logan's room with a commanding presence and had argued his case to find Max by himself with a look of such unfeeling, robotic intensity that Logan had had no choice but to submit. Alec had beaten him down by the sheer force of his will, and Logan suddenly knew what it was that had made 494 one of Manticore's finest soldiers.

Logan bristled as he contemplated just how much will Alec held of late when it came to Max. The man had started out not caring what kinds of tests Manticore ran on Max, and then suddenly he had to be the one to bring her back to safety? It didn't make sense.

Logan mentally shook himself. What the hell is taking Alec so long? Did he forget that he said he'd call me? It was likely. Alec was, after all, the world's biggest screw-up. Or maybe he just 'forgot'. Maybe he's with Max right now and he's just taking his time...

The angry thoughts feeding each other came to a sudden halt as the phone rang. Logan snapped back to reality and fumbled for the phone excitedly, his heart racing. "Hello? Alec?" he said hurriedly into the phone.

"Yeah," came the dull reply.

"Did you find her?" Logan asked, skipping all formalities and cutting to the vital chase.

There was a pause on the line, and Logan heard the man on the other end sigh quietly. "Yep."

A sense of forboding came over Logan. He really didn't like the tone of Alec's voice right then. Or rather, the lack of tone. "Is she all right?"

"Physically or spiritually?" Alec replied with a dose of sarcasm.

"What's wrong?" Logan asked, feeling panicked.

"Huh... She's fine, Logan. She's just got some... amnesia... to deal with."

Logan felt his heart rate calm just a little. Max was all right. Physically, at least. As for the amnesia... "What did she say?"

There was a long silence. "She didn't really say anything. She's sleeping right now. I'm gonna take her back to Terminal City."

"You're what?! You can't just take her away! She needs help! You can't expect her to run the city for you again, just 'cuz she's here now!"

"Of course she needs help! She doesn't even know who she is! You think I need her to run the city? I've done just fine by myself these last three months, Logan. I can do it for another three if I have to." There was another pause on the other end. "Max needs to be kept safe now more than ever. You think it ends with her deciding not to kill you? Manticore is gonna want their little soldier back. You think you can stop them from taking her all by yourself?"

Logan felt a growing anger. Alec obviously didn't give a damn about Max. He wanted to keep her for observation or something while he continued to run her city with all the pomp and circumstance of the position. "I can do it for another three if I have to."

"So, what, you take Max to your apartment and let her recuperate, away from all of her friends and family? Are you gonna feed her memory back to her? Are you gonna stand at the door with a shotgun while White and crew come to steal her back? What good would that possibly do her?" Logan asked angrily.

Alec hesitated before answering. "First of all, Logan, I am Max's friend, as much as you don't like to admit it. Second, she's gonna get her memory back by herself. She doesn't need my help with that. And third, it'll be me, Joshua, Mole, Luke, Dix, Gem, Dalton, Brock, Tad, Chase, Trina, and every other transgenic big enough to hold a shotgun. ...White wouldn't risk it. He's turned away before," Alec responded in a cold, determined voice.

For the second time that night, Logan had second thoughts about the roguish transgenic. Perhaps the responsibility of running Terminal City in Max's absence had helped Alec to mature. Perhaps he finally did care for people other than himself. Or maybe it was just Max.

"Where are you now?"

"We're in some abandoned building on the edge of town. Not too far off from TC."

"I want to see her."

"Logan, you've gotta give 'er some space, man! She just took a really heavy blow tonight! She's scared and confused, and you showing up would only make things worse," Alec said matter-of-factly. He sighed again and continued in a gentler tone, "She needs some time to find her way back. You just have to be patient. ...We all do..."

Logan swallowed painfully as he heard a click and a dial tone.

Alec sighed and pocketed his cell phone. He glanced over at the sleeping form on the moth-eaten mattress. Max looked worn-out. Her eyes were still puffy from crying, and her honey-colored cheeks still had tear streaks on them. She sniffled in her sleep. She looked so innocent and vulnerable, so weak and fragile. This was the worst condition Alec had ever seen her in, both her appearance and her demeanor.

She was gorgeous.

Alec felt his heart throb painfully as he watched the troubled angel sleep an uncomfortable sleep borne of grief and dead exhaustion. What he wouldn't give to take all of her pain away... He prayed her dreams were kinder to her than the waking world. She'd been through so much...

But right now, what had happened in the past couldn't hold them back from moving on. This was a critical situation Alec found himself in. He had a responsibility to lead Terminal City and all of its transgenic citizens through these dark times, but Max's return was supposed to end that responsibility. Now that she was there in front of him, her presence only seemed to multiply his problems to a staggering number.

His new understanding of his heart in relation to Max certainly didn't help matters. Alec supposed that he'd loved Max for a long time. He just hadn't realized it until he'd held her in his arms.

Alec shuddered, thinking about that intensely painful moment no more than an hour ago. There he'd been, holding her and loving her, and with the utterance of one word, she'd managed to shatter his heart into a million tiny shards.

"Why was he kissing me, Ben?!"

Destroyed. Alec's heart, Max's memory and spirit. All vanquished with one word.

"Don't leave me, Ben! ...Ben!...Ben!..."

"Ben..."

Something tightened around the vicinity of Alec's chest, and for a moment, he couldn't breathe. Alec gazed on in painful silence as he watched Max stir in her sleep. A wrinkle of a frown marred her perfect brow, and Alec shook himself of her spell and stood. They couldn't stay there much longer. There were only so many hours in the night, and they had to get back to TC.

In one smooth motion, Alec lifted Max's limp body into his arms and carried her out of the room, down the stairs, and out into the chilly night.

As they made their way down the street, Alec's mind wandered. What was he going to do now? Things had gone so terribly wrong... It had been bad enough to know that Max's life was hanging in the balance, but it was sickeningly worse to consider that it was now her mind in jeopardy. Beyond taking her to Terminal City, Alec was at a loss for what to do. Max would have to be handled delicately. Her mind was so fragile now... Should he let her walk around the city and gain back her memories that way, or should he feed her back those memories slowly and progressively, to protect her from an onslaught of recollections from her dark past? Alec had never felt so helpless before...

A tremor from somewhere outside of his mind brought Alec back to the present moment. He glanced around to see that he and Max were now at one of the tunnel entrances to Terminal City. Luckily, no one was nearby to see them, transgenic or otherwise. Alec studied himself to locate the source of that odd tremor.

He looked down in shock as he noticed the movement in his arms. Max was shivering in the wind. Alec immediately shrugged off his leather jacket one arm at a time while being careful not to jostle the breakable woman, and he laid the jacket over her body to protect her from the cold. She breathed deeply and smiled in her sleep, burrowing into the jacket and wrapping it more snugly around herself.

Alec felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth at the endearing sight. I'll protect you, Max. I'll always protect you. I promise.

452 - or Max? - was sitting in her cell back at Manticore. The lights were dimmed, and everything looked fuzzy. Her head even felt fuzzy. She lifted a hand to her head groggily. What's going on?

The door to her cell opened with a loud creak coming from the latch. It swung open to reveal a silhouette of a man hilighted by a dazzling light from the outside. The silhouette started walking slowly, purposefully, into her cell. 452 sat up slowly, studying the shape in wonder.

The door slammed shut, taking the blinding light with it. 452 was left to stare at him, casually standing there in his military-issue uniform. It was...

"Ben?" she heard herself say.

"What?" He looked at her in confusion. No, not Ben. Not her brother.

The whole scene blurred, and 452 was sitting on a dusty old bed, crying an ocean of tears in her fear and confusion. Strong arms wrapped around her, and she sank into them gratefully. Ben always gave the best hugs.

He kissed the top of her head, and the warmth sent shivers through her. She turned around out of curiosity. "Ben?" she repeated.

The man's face changed into a mask of confusion once more. "What?"

A sudden flash of light blinded 452 for an instant, and she snapped her eyes shut to block it out. When she opened her eyes again, her surroundings were different.

She was standing in a nondescript room with smooth stony gray walls. A single bulb hanging from an unconvered fixture lit the empty room. Well, almost empty. He was there again, facing her from the edge of the light. The soft yellow glow seemed to mark the boundaries of existence, trapping 452 between a smooth, implacable stone wall and the man that had her brother's face.

He wore a black leather jacket and jeans with his arms folded across his chest. He sent her a challenging stare. The corners of his mouth tilted up into the most arrogant smirk 452 had ever seen. He gestured with his hands for her to come at him. "C'mon, Maxie. Take your best shot."

Max glared. "Don't call me that."

The man laughed. "Aw, is the kid sister gettin' upset?" he asked her in mock concern.

Max felt her lips pull back into a menacing snarl. "I'm no kid sister of yours!"

She ran at him and sent a well-aimed kick to his head. He grabbed her foot and stopped it just before it smacked into that smirk of his. He yanked her leg out from under her and sent her back to the ground. Max rolled up as soon as she felt the concrete beneath her, and she twisted her leg out of his grasp, spiralling a kick to his side with enough force to send him grunting into the wall. He spun around with the reflexes of a cat to face his enemy.

Max pinned him against the wall with her hand on his throat. Now that she had him where she wanted him, she could speak her mind. Her lip curled in disgust as she addressed him. "You're not part of my family," she said accusingly. "I don't know who you are, but you sure as hell aren't Ben."

Caught off-guard in her anger, Max's eyes widened in shock as she felt herself being grabbed and spun. Her back slammed into the wall she'd just been holding the imposter against. He held her pinned to the wall, one hand securing each wrist, his feet standing on top of hers, a hip pressed against her middle, and a leg bent to slip behind one of hers and throw her off-balance, for good measure.

This close, Max could smell him distinctly. It was entirely masculine, familiar, and somehow comforting, although the situation she was in here was a far cry from "comfortable". Her captor smiled another half-smile at her, his eyes darkening, his face taking on a look that heatedly reminded Max of the intimacy of their current positions. Under that look, Max felt her heart rate increase, and her temperature along with it. Her eyes inadvertently moved to rest on his lips as he spoke in a low, rough voice.

"You're right, Maxie. I'm not your brother."

All she could do was watch as if in a trance as he moved closer still, his intent clear. Max's heart pounded loudly in her chest. He angled his head to fit his lips over hers in a fierce...

452 jerked awake, sitting bolt upright on the mattress pad she was lying on. She felt her lips gingerly with one hand. She was sweating.

"It was a dream...," she murmured. 452 took a deep, calming breath... and felt her heart thunder again. The scent - his scent - was still surrounding her. Was it a dream?

That was when 452 noticed the jacket covering her like a blanket. The same black leather jacket she'd seen in her dream. She pushed the jacket off of her and looked at it like it was a deadly cobra.

452 pulled her eyes away to study her surroundings. She was in a plain room, eerily like the one in... No. Don't think about it.

The room was bare with the exception of a lightbulb hanging from a chain and 452's mattress pad. She shivered with the new absence of warmth from the jacket. Her face took on a worried frown. The place didn't look familiar at all, and she was alone here. No one to talk to, no shoulder to cry on, no listening ear to pour her fears into...

The door to the room opened, and 452 started at the sound. She spun around in an instant to see who was waiting behind the door.

Immediately noticing that the person was someone she didn't recognize, 452 blurted out the question that had been gnawing away at her troubled mind. "Where am I?"

The little Asian girl standing at the door gazed down at 452 with a carefully masked expression. A small smile graced her tiny rosebud mouth. "You're in Terminal City."

452 stared down at the floor, trying to process this information. Terminal City? Where the rogue soldiers live?

The girl's smile widened. "Welcome home!"

A/N: So, whaddaya think? Seriously, it makes my month to hear your thoughts! Please take the time to review and share them. Any and all will be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for sticking with this! (Oh, and feel free to go to my author's page to check out "Stranded!" Because of the site's problems, only about 100 people were able to read it... What? This isn't a plug... honest!...)
See ya next chapter!

-Christique