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

ARCHIVE: No

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & JensenAckles.org

Alec hadn't seen Asha -- at least not up close -- in a very long time. It had to have been at least what? A year and a half he figured? Why she was here now, he hadn't a clue. However, one thing he had to admit -- she still looked damned good.

Slender, her features almost elfin in their perfect delicacy, brown eyes big and wide in that innocent kind of way a guy like him found incredibly sexy, she was wearing an embroidered sweater that hugged just tight enough to show off perfect breasts, black slacks, and practical, ankle-high suede boots. No jewelry (or bra either for that matter), just a simple sense of style that many women would envy.

Alec licked his lips, the male part of him slightly overshadowing reason. There was a time he'd have willingly gotten naked with Asha Barlow ... a time, in fact, that if Max hadn't interrupted his evening, it might have happened. He could see nipples through that sweater ...

But Asha was good people ... and surprisingly innocent considering her past and her involvement with the S1W, the subversive group of Freedom Fighters that Eyes Only like to help out on occasion.

In fact, once, Alec knew he could have fallen hard for Asha -- head over heels over heart -- if he'd have let himself. However, the sight of her angelic face as she slept peacefully on his couch that evening after their night of drinking had reminded the X5 too much of another innocent teen girl -- one he'd loved ... and killed -- and his heart had hardened.

Never again. Asha deserved better in her life than him. Besides, she really wasn't his type, and--

--she was already in love with Logan Cale.

Not that I couldn't have taken her away from him if I wanted to, Alec's subconscious added with a snide kick to his manly pride.

Asha caught sight of the male X5. Brown eyes widened with surprise as her pretty mouth slightly gaped. "Alec," she stammered his name, fumbling with the bottle of red wine she'd brought as a dinner gift.

Alec immediately wondered why the sight of him had spooked her so much. Then he smiled slightly, his ego supplying the answer. She must have been thinking about me now and then.

"Asha," he said, offering a patented Alec-smile and turning on the charm. "Long time no see."

"I've ... been busy," she stammered.

"Yeah, me too," Alec said easily. Then he glanced over at Max, eyebrows raised. What the fuck is goin' on?

"Logan invited Asha here tonight so we could talk more about what you saw when you were in that cave," Max said quickly. "He thinks you stumbled onto something important, maybe even a way into the old underground Seattle sections that Eyes Only has been trying to access for years."

So that was it, Alec thought tiredly. They wanted to pick his brain about Flipper's lair, not talk about the Steelheads at all. It had been a set-up.

The X5 seriously considered walking out. But the chicken smelled too good, and then Logan brought out a big bowl of steaming buttered mashed potatoes. There was pie, too ...

Oh well, it couldn't hurt to talk, the hungry transgenic figured as he drew up a chair and spread a red linen napkin in his lap. However, the smile he directed in Max's direction as Logan handed him a basket of fluffy rolls was decidedly chilly. Alec didn't appreciate being tricked, and she'd pay for this soon.

"Please pass the butter," Asha said.

"There's not much to tell," Alec began as he handed her the dish, deciding to take charge of the conversation and get it over with. "Our merman friend and his lady have a nice little set of digs in some kind of underground cavern about a hundred yards or so in from the bay. There's a big drain pipe leading to it."

"But where they are is part of underground Seattle," Logan said. "The area that was buried about the fire of 1889 ... under Pioneer Square."

"Sector five," Alec clarified, knowing the location.

"You said the light where you were was purple, and there were burned buildings?" Logan went on.

Alec glanced across the table at Asha who was listening intently, her meal forgotten.

"Yeah," Alec said. "The light was purple, what there was of it. And there were ruins. I knew I was in part of the old underground, but I'd always heard it was closed off. Apparently Flipper found a back door."

"Did you hear or see anything else," Logan said, "any sign of other people down there?"

"No," Alec said, taking a bite of chicken -- dark meat -- and chewing thoughtfully. "Those guys wouldn't have been living there if they weren't isolated."

"They'd been there for a long time?" Max said, speaking for the first time.

"The mer-people were settled in, Max. Just like I said. They even had boxes of Manticore rations that they had to have brought there right after the base went down in '20. Probably smuggled them out the same way they escaped from the complex, down that tributary stream in back of Barracks Six."

"You didn't see any way to reach other parts of the underground city then?" Logan said.

Alec shook his head. "Believe me, I asked. I wasn't keen on doin' the whole marathon swim. If there had been another way out other than the underwater tunnel, the guy would've shown me. I was injured, remember?"

"So," Max said. "The only way in is to get wet?"

"Very wet," Alec replied with a knowing smirk and a glance in Logan's direction. The exo was decidedly un-waterproof, and they all knew it, thus nixing any ideas about the high and mighty Eyes Only having a hands-on adventure.

"I still think it's worth investigation," Logan persisted. "Eyes Only has been interested in the area beneath Pioneer Square for a long time. He truly does think the city officials have built some kind of prison down there for political enemies -- Sector 55 it's referred to in some documents."

"And you think you're mother's down there?" Alec said, speaking to Asha.

The blonde nodded as she played with her food with her fork, still not eating, her eyes averted.

A small pang of guilt ran through the X5. Asha's brother had been killed and her mother kidnapped in 2016. Margaret Curran had been missing ever since. It was obvious the girl was uncomfortable with the conversation, probably not wanting to be reminded of painful memories.

Alec got the hint, as did the others. They all ate in relative silence for awhile, making nothing more than small talk. Then Max -- still playing hostess -- began clearing away dishes when it seemed like everyone was done.

"Pie?" Logan asked as he stood up, the faint whine of the servos in his exoskeleton sounding oddly loud -- and vaguely annoying -- to Alec's transgenically attuned ears.

"Sure," Alec said, keeping his fork as Max took away his well cleaned plate. Then his eyes went to Asha again. She was staring at him, and he suddenly remembered the last time they'd spoken -- in Crash Bar when he'd more-or-less accused her of having a "thing" for him and telling her to "beat it" for her own good.

"Drama just follows you around, doesn't it?" she said with a nervous little smile as Max helped Logan dish up the pie in the kitchen.

Alec cocked an eyebrow at that. "Seems that way," he replied lightly.

"You look good," Asha said. "I saw your picture in the paper after your first City Council meeting. How's it feel being a politician?"

"Not much different from bein' a soldier," Alec replied honestly. "Only the fighting's with words instead of with bullets." He smiled. "Not to worry though. I'm good with both."

Asha grinned and shook her head, her golden hair bouncing and catching the candlelight making her look somewhat surreal, not to mention gorgeous. "Still full of yourself, aren't you?"

"You never minded that before," Alec said blithely, and immediately bit down on his tongue. Damn it, he hadn't meant to flirt, but it just came so naturally.

Asha's eyes were on Logan and Max in the adjacent kitchen. "They're happy together, aren't they?"

"Delirious," Alec replied dryly, realizing with a tiny bit of chagrin that Asha was still hung up on Logan. What did she and Max see in that guy anyway?

"It's been almost a year," she said. "I wonder if they'll get married?"

"Forget him, Asha," Alec said gently.

"Just like you're forgetting Max?" she replied, those brown eyes now accusing.

Alec was caught off guard by the remark, and sat up straighter in his chair. However, he recovered quickly. "Max and me were never like that," he said quietly, lowering his voice because the subject of their conversation was on her way out with two plates of apple pie and ice cream. "We've always been just friends."

"Yeah," Asha said, waiting until Max had returned to the kitchen after setting down the desserts. "Just like Logan and I have always only been friends. I mean, it's not like he and I were ever designated breeding partners or anything. You're in love with her, Alec, only you won't even admit it to yourself, let alone her. It's why you're still in Seattle, not because of any transgenic cause. Why don't you grow up and face the truth?

Alec scowled, his eyes telling her to shut up, then he beamed a grin at Max and Logan as they came out of the kitchen together.

"Enjoy," Max said sourly as she took a seat, sounding like she didn't mean that at all.

"Thanks, Max," Alec said, retrieving his fork and taking a bite of the pie. However, his mind was definitely not on dessert. Rather, it was on the way Asha was suddenly looking from him to Max and back again.