Set vaguely post Hello, Goodbye, with a bit of Dawg Day Afternoon. Logan saw Alec leaving Max's place the morning after their talk about Ben. Logan had the confrontation with Max, and she let him think she's together with Alec. Max has helped Alec get out of the murder charge. This is before the Jam Pony hostage thing, or Annie's death, or the tattoos that popped up on Max, or… anything else toward the end of the season. Just not doing it this time.

This story happened because I was watching the scene where Logan confronts Max after he saw Alec leaving her place and how chummy they were. I'd forgotten he was drunk and being a real jerk when Max decided to let him think she and Alec were an item.

In any case, this story isn't about Logan. It's about Max and Alec, because that's the way we like it! One we go…

Chapter One

Something was wrong with Alec.

He'd been coming to work, but he was usually late and a couple of days he hadn't shown up at all. That wasn't a big deal, Max was always doing that sort of thing too after all, but it was happening so often even Normal was starting to get annoyed with his golden boy.

Max didn't think it was Transgenic business either. There hadn't been any trouble lately beyond the usual. She'd asked around and no one else knew what he was up to either. She'd even cornered Sketchy in case he'd dragged him into some scam that had gone sideways.

When Alec did show up for work, he seemed quiet. It wasn't the same quiet like he was after the Berrisford thing either. This was angrier. He didn't hang around and talk to anybody. He didn't joke. He didn't flirt with any of the girls. In short, he wasn't acting like himself.

At the moment, work was over and they'd all headed for Crash. Instead of sharing a table with them, Alec was sitting at the end of the bar. Crash was packed, but it didn't matter. There was an empty seat beside him. If anyone dared to grab the stool next to him, they quickly figured out they'd sat down next to a guy they didn't want to be anywhere near. Max wasn't sure what Alec said to them, or if he said anything at all, but each person who tried, even the busty bombshell who sidled up to him hoping for a good time, quickly backed away and found somewhere else to sit.

Normally, Max wouldn't care that Alec was acting weird, except since she'd told him about Ben, things had been different, better. He didn't know she'd used him to fend Logan off, at least she didn't think so, but then he'd started acting strange.

At first, she'd thought he was just pissed off that she was using him, but he didn't act like he knew about it. It was something else, and he wasn't talking.

And now, ever since that night when he'd been arrested and she'd told him about Ben… The way he was acting was making Max think of a lot of things she never wanted to again. Ben… teeth… a body left in the woods for Manticore to take away.

She didn't think that was it. Yeah, they were all messed up, and he and Ben had the same DNA, but Ben had been messed up by Manticore in a completely different way. It was a big leap to go from Alec's acting weird, to saying he'd gone off the deep end like Ben had.

Max grabbed her drink and headed for the bar. Sketchy was playing pool and O.C. had found a new friend for the evening. There were a few other people Max knew, but they were busy too, so Max didn't have any excuse to avoid the confrontation that had been building for days.

Max sat down beside him and thunked her bottle down in front of her, but Alec didn't bother to turn in her direction.

"Is there some reason you decided to grace me with your presence?" He was twisting his glass, staring at it like it had all the answers. She remembered him acting that way during the Berrisford mess, but she had no clue what this was about.

"You looked like you were having so much fun chasing everybody off, I thought I'd come check it out."

Alec raised his glass and took a healthy sip. "Not tonight, Max. I'm not in the mood for our little game."

"Didn't know we were playing a game."

Alec sniffed. "I say something smartass, you say something sarcastic, on and on until somebody hits somebody else, or one of us leaves. It's a little dance we do and I'm not in the mood, so if you could just cut this short and leave, that'd be great."

"Maybe I wanna know what's going on with you," she said. "Maybe I can help."

Alec rolled his eyes. "Just can't let it go, can you?"

"Not when whatever it is will eventually bite me in the ass." She shrugged. "I'm just trying to fix it before it starts."

He finally turned to look at her, giving her the full weight of his glare. "I am not yours to fix, Max. Manticore tried to fix me over and over, and it still didn't take." By then he was right in her face. Max had to fight the instinctive urge to back up. "Nobody looks after me, but me."

"Fine," she snapped. "Don't come crying to me when you need help."

"On that, at least, we can agree," he said, and turned to face forward again, a clear dismissal.

Max picked up her beer and went to play pool with Sketch. She kept an eye on Alec, but he didn't stay much longer. He finished his drink and pushed his way through the crowd to the door.

Max walked into Jam Pony and immediately noticed everyone was giving the main counter a wide berth. As soon as O.C. saw her, she motioned for her to hurry over to the lockers. Max walked past the cage and saw Normal sitting on a stool looking forlorn.

"What's up?"

Cindy pursed her lips. "Boss man ain't let out a single Bip Bip since I got here."

Max glanced toward him again. "Why not? Somebody kick his dog or something?"

"Funny you should say that. More like his cat though." She raised an eyebrow. "Your boy called this morning and quit."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"But…"

"You and me both know somethin' wrong with him lately." She eyed Max. "One of us better figure out what it is."

Max grimaced. "Does it have to be me?"

"Who else it gonna be? Sketch?" They both looked over where Sketch had managed to get his hoodie caught in his locker when he closed it and was trying to get it free.

"Point taken." Max sighed. "But the problem is he doesn't want help."

"Uh huh," O.C. replied, unimpressed. "Sound a lot like somebody else I know."

"Fine." Max turned around and stomped to the counter. Everyone stopped to listen, probably to see whether Normal would go postal or break down completely.

"Hey, Normal." She waited for him to stop shuffling random papers. "I'm gonna take off."

He didn't bother to look up. "You leave, don't bother coming back. I've got enough of you layabouts who never bother to come in."

It was kind of sad really. He didn't even have the heart to threaten her job properly. It looked like Alec had broken him.

"I'm gonna go check on Alec," she explained. "I think something's up with him and I'm gonna get him back."

That got Normal's attention. He finally looked up at her and a tiny inkling of hope brought some color back to his cheeks. "What's wrong with him?"

"Dunno. But I'm gonna find out." She nodded toward the door. "So… it ok if I go?"

"Fine," he said, his normal grouchy tone reappearing. "But don't think this is a regular thing. I've got my eye on you, Missy Miss." He picked up a package and tossed it to her. "Drop this off on your way."

Max knocked on Alec's door. She heard some shuffling inside and then the locks being turned. The door opened, and Alec raised his eyebrows when he saw her.

"What's up?"

"Seriously?" she said, pushing her way past him into the apartment. "You quit your job and want to know what's up?"

There were no tell-tale liquor bottles sitting out, no dirty dishes. Everything looked Manticore tidy. Alec, too, looked like his normal put-together self. She didn't know what she'd expected, but she'd figured he'd be wallowing, or… falling apart over something, or… just something.

"Can I help you, Max?" he asked, exasperation showing.

"Why'd you quit?" she demanded.

He cocked his head to one side. "Maybe I'm done wasting my time making twenty-five cent tips when I could be doing something a lot more lucrative."

Max studied him. "Nope. Not buying it."

Alec sighed. He walked to the sofa and sat down in a loose-limbed sprawl. Max sat down as well and leaned back, waiting.

"So talk," she ordered. She'd thought after rescuing him from jail for his twin's murders they were in a better place. After she'd told him about what happened with Ben, things had been… different. But here he was acting all standoffish and closed off again.

He shrugged. "Nothing to say. I'm bored and I'm tired of working for peanuts. I…"

He trailed off and Max narrowed her eyes. "What?"

Alec bit his lower lip, then finally he said, "You ever miss it? Manticore?"

"What?" Max was so surprised she didn't even know what to say.

"Nevermind." Alec huffed and looked away.

"No," she said, a bit too loudly. "You miss Manticore? Are you serious?"

He rolled his eyes. "Not everything… or pretty much everything really. Just… we had a purpose." He sighed. "Just kind of at loose ends, I guess."

We never should have left. Everything made sense there.

"You… you feeling ok?" she asked tentatively.

He raised an eyebrow. "Look, delivering packages for Normal isn't exactly using my skills, so I'm looking for something else."

"Like what?" She knew her tone was accusing, but she'd been worried before. Now she was scared.

"Don't worry about me," he said as if he'd heard her thoughts. "I'll figure something out." Alec stood and moved toward the door. "If there's nothing else?"

Max got up and stomped out.

More soon…