DISCLAIMER: All DARK ANGEL characters belong to James Cameron and Charles Eglee (Cameron Eglee Productions) and DARK ANGEL itself belongs to FOX.

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Artwork courtesy of Valjean & JRAUnlimited.com

Alec sat for awhile by himself after Max left, enjoying the time alone and pondering the puzzle that was X5-452. She'd missed him, and been worried about him -- a vast improvement over a time a couple of years back, he thought, when she'd just as soon drop an anvil on him as look at him.

He grinned at that memory. But then he always had had Max's number. Beneath that tough chick exterior, she was a big softie, just like he'd once told Joshua. However, what puzzled Alec right now was a certain kind of other vibe he was getting from his fearless leader. An expert when it came to reading emotions, the X5 sensed a shift in the pattern. He'd always occasionally tossed out double entendres and flirtatious remarks, treating Max the same as he'd treat any hot looking woman. Usually, she at best ignored him, and at worst threatened to kick his ass, then he'd simply grin and walk away, scoring one for his team because he'd managed to get under her skin.

But lately -- like tonight -- when he'd teased her Max hadn't teased back. Instead, she'd seemed troubled by his words.

Alec wondered what had changed. Or should that be who had changed?

*****

Max bathed her face in cold water at the bathroom sink, the droplets spattering the thin cotton of her nighttime t-shirt. Sometimes she wore a red silk negligee and a thong -- Logan liked it when she did that -- but tonight he'd have to settle for Fruit of the Loom because she was too tired for sex games, not to mention too frustrated.

I love Logan, she spoke silently and fiercely to herself as she glared at her reflection in the mirror. I love only Logan.

The mantra was a comfort to her, but then it occurred to her to wonder why she felt it so necessary to repeat if it were totally true.

Because he's not the only one you're in love with.

"Oh, God!" Max said out loud, her hand flying to her mouth as if she'd just spoken those words and not silently thought them.

"Did you say something, Max?" Logan called from the bedroom.

"No," she said too quickly. "I'm just brushing my teeth." She grabbed at the pink toothbrush in its stand where it shared domestic bliss beside Logan's blue one -- a symbol more than perhaps any other that she was indeed settled in where she was meant to be ... content ... happy.

Alec's toothbrush was green -- just like his motorcycle ... and his eyes. She'd caught a glimpse of it once in the bathroom at his apartment.

"Max!" Logan called again. "Are you coming to bed? It's after midnight. And did you find Alec?"

"I found him," she said as she walked into Logan's bedroom ... their bedroom. "He was on the Needle."

"Is he all right?" Eyes Only asked as he scooted over on the mattress, his arms dragging the dead weight of his paralyzed lower half (the exoskeleton not exactly comfortable or safe to sleep in).

"He's fine," Max said simply. Then, "Hold me. Please."

And he did. But Max didn't feel any better, nor did she sleep well, even after Logan's snores filled the room and dawn's light crept through the curtains. Instead, she lay there thinking about a certain wise ass X5 who had no business in her waking life, let alone swaggering through her dreams.

*****

The next day when she walked into the control center and found her eyes searching the room for Alec, Max knew that she was in deep emotional trouble. They ("they" being a "Cosmopolitan Magazine" quiz) said that if you're with one man but your mind is always on another it was a sign of trouble in the relationship.

I'm not in love with Alec, Max scolded herself. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. He's just a friend ... a brother ... I care about him like I care about Joshua.

However, it wasn't a dogman whose touch she'd been fantasizing about in the shower that morning.

And then she saw him, and her heart lurched, and Max wanted to bang her head against the wall in disgust. What the hell had changed in the past few days? Why had Alec's supposed death followed by his resurrection made her look at him so differently?

Because you never truly appreciated him before, she answered herself. You never realized what was right under your nose until you thought you'd lost him forever. And now you've got a second chance with him.

But Logan ... dear God, Logan ... She loved him so very much and had gone through such hell to be with him. Max knew there was no way in the world she'd ever give up the comfort and security of her intimate relationship with Eyes Only for a wild child like Alec, even if the X5 did return her feelings. Which was a very big "if" indeed.

Max watched as her transgenic brother moved around the room, talking to Mole ... Dix ... looking at some data downloaded from a security monitor ... He moved with the grace of a natural athlete, his blue jeans hugging lean hips and the typical black t-shirt and grey leather jacket riding broad shoulders and clinging tightly in all the right places. He looked like a Calvin Klein model, damn well knew it, and didn't give a flying fuck because this morning X5-494 was here in the role of a soldier ... a leader ... a mantle Max realized was more attractive on him than all the ripped muscles and form fitting t-shirts in the world.

Alec had grown up a lot these past couple of years in Terminal City ... become more of a man while still retaining all the charm of the boy.

"Hey," Max said to him when she caught his eye.

Glancing around to make sure he wasn't needed at any of the stations, Alec sauntered over, hands in pockets and a typical Alec-y smile in place. "And good morning to you, too, Max," he drawled. "Did ya sleep well?"

"Like a baby," she lied. Then she got to the point. "Do you have plans for this evening?"

"And why do you ask?" he said, hazel-green eyes narrowing ever-so-slightly with suspicion.

"Thought you might like to come have dinner at Logan's," she said carefully. "The three of us need to talk over what we're going to do about the Steelheads."

"No need to talk over anything," Alec said easily. "Me, Mole, and a couple of the other X5s are gonna take care of that little matter tomorrow."

Max's eyes widened with alarm. "Not without me involved you aren't!" she declared. "Just ... come to dinner tonight. We'll talk ... think of a solution that doesn't involve ... involve ..."

"Guns," Alec supplied for her, the smile knowing this time.

"Violence," Max corrected him.

"Okay," Alec agreed. "But tell Logan he better get out that bottle of good Scotch if he expects to ply me with alcohol."