Title: The End of a Savior Complex

Author: Dark Roswellian Angel

Elizabeth McDowell

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. If I did, Alec would have been treated much better. In fact, if I owned "Dark Angel" I'd be treating him better right now instead of just writing about him ; P

Copying/Downloading/Posting: Please let me know first, and let me know where my work will be posted as I would love to come visit it. Make sure that it is put under my name, as I would love to hear how others feel about it. Thanks ;)

Rating: T

Synopsis: When Alec finds out that Max has been hurt, he reacts unexpectedly.

A/N: I've never tried writing this emotion before, so I don't know if I did a decent job. Hope you enjoy :)

A/N 2: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this so far. Thanks especially to CMT1992, p3karen, Myth87, darkaznangel452, Jabberwocky1, whatever95, PurpleSpinx, 452max, ConstantReader77, purplebunnywabbit, vintage.soul494, and ArjunaAnja for reviewing the last chapter. You guys totally rock :)

A/N 3: Just so's ya knows, I've altered some of the timeline to make this chapter make sense. So, if you notice it, please just take it in stride.

Last thing (I swear)- I need to make an apology. I reread my A/N at the end of the last chapter and realized that I may have put it the wrong way. My question was if people want me to have another physical altercation between Logan and Alec. My question was NOT whether people wanted me to continue or not- 'cause I don't hold that sort of thing over my readers' heads (you know, I'll only continue if you guys tell me how much you love me, otherwise I'm holding the rest of my story hostage- that sort of thing). Like I say on my profile page, I promise to finish any and every story that I start to post.

4- Second Thoughts

I can't even believe the gall of this guy. Half an hour later, Alec was standing on the roof of the building overlooking Logan's penthouse. As soon as he'd reached the floor level of Logan's apartment building, he'd started questioning the wisdom of what he'd just done. He couldn't quite bring himself to regret doing it. Even though most of the time, he halfway liked the guy. But it had to be done, and he was glad that he was the one who got to do it. So, it wasn't like he was wishing that he hadn't done it. In fact, he had been right- the only thing that had finally helped him calm down had been wrapping his hands around the guy's throat.

No, the problem wasn't what he had done- it was what she was going to do. Because after watching Logan regain consciousness and root around his apartment, Alec started really considering the ramifications of what he'd done. Ignoring the fact that the Ordinary had deserved it, and probably a lot worse, the fact was that it was highly unlikely that she was going to appreciate him threatening to kill her not-like-that boyfriend. And by the time the weasel got finished telling her the story, she was probably going to believe that he had actually tried to kill him. As if. Buddy, if I wanted you dead, there's no way you'd be breathing right now. Still, it wasn't like she had a long history of giving him the benefit of the doubt. And if anything other than the thought of her getting hurt could make him panic, it was the idea that she might boot him out of her life for real this time. For good.

Ugh! It's so freaking-a wrong. We just finally started connecting for real. That night in her apartment when she had finally opened up to him had done more than just answered some questions for him. It had made him finally realize what his feelings for her were. When he had watched her hurting over his brother, he hadn't been able to help himself. He'd had to gather her to him. And when he had felt her small body in his arms, and smelled her sweet scent, he had realized that this was a feeling he'd never had with another woman. Curiosity may have been as great a motivating factor as comforting her when he'd kissed the top of her soft head.

And that had been it for him- the great "aha" moment where he realized what she meant to him. When he realized that she had become his world and that he could bear losing everything else that he'd ever cared about except her. And ever since then, he'd been making a point of spending every moment he could with her, though sometimes he wondered just how sick his obsession with hurting himself was going to get. Or maybe hurting him was her obsession- after all, it had been her idea to make him into her faux boyfriend. Which made things just that much worse.

He'd never understood before just how bad it could be to want something until the rest of the world thought he had it when he didn't. Now, he was able to touch her and hold her and even on occasion kiss her, but he wasn't allowed to tell her how he felt. He was able to hold her hand, but he wasn't allowed to give her his heart. The only thing worse than not getting what he wanted more than anything else in the world was to be that close to it and know that she didn't even know he wanted her. To know that she didn't even look at him that way.

And so, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place- wanting to do anything she needed him to, and yet knowing that the more he did for her the more it would wind up hurting him. And for what may be the first time in his life, he was learning that there was something more important to him than what he wanted. Even with Rachel, it had still been him wanting her acceptance and the small, comfortable place in the world that she could give him. But with Max, it was different. With Max, no one had to ask what he would give up for her. Every time he went on a mission with her, every time she turned to him for help, every time she was hurting, the truth was borne to him. He would die for her. He would give up everything he had including his life to help her be happy.

So, that was why he'd lost it earlier. Because the thought of losing her had made him realize how close he'd come to losing the most important part of himself, and he hadn't been able to breathe or move or think rationally until his upbringing had caused him to swing into full half-animal-half-human, soldier-protecting-chosen-mate mode. Ironic. My reaction to the thought of losing her may have just cost me a place in her life. He chuckled humorlessly, I may have just lost her because I'm scared of losing her. The thought sickened him as he watched the Ordinary who may very well carry the key to his future get into war-weathered Bessie and drive in the direction of his heart's owner.

Short, I know. But (even though I'm on vacation) I promise to get the next chapter up during the next three days. I'm not sure when exactly- it'll depend on when I get access to a computer. But even if I have to stay up all night, I will succeed at getting onto a computer, and I will succeed in getting onto the Internet, and furthermore, I will succeed at getting the next chapter posted. Done deal. Period.