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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Photo courtesy of StillFrame

Max decided to tackle her latest problem the same way she tackled everything -- straight forward. She had a plan ... a good plan. All she needed was to set things in motion.

After the dining room table had been cleared, Logan spread a large detailed sector map out on it, then asked Alec to show him exactly where the merman's lair was located. The two men were now deeply engrossed in conversation, their heads bent low over the map as Alec ran a finger from a point on the shore back to Sector 5 with one hand and held a Scotch neat in the other.

"I could use some help with the dishes," Max said to Asha. It was an incredibly "girlie" thing to say, but she didn't know how else to lure their guest into the kitchen.

Once alone with the S1W member, knowing she didn't have much time, Max got straight to the point. "You still like Alec, don't you?" she said as she ran hot water in the sink.

Asha did a double take, blinking her big eyes rapidly. "Where did that come from?" she half laughed.

Max shrugged. "It's pretty obvious. You and Alec once had kind of a thing going didn't you? Then stuff happened ... the hostage crisis at Jam Pony ... the siege ... But now my people are pretty much accepted by Seattle and the two of you could probably make a go of it."

"Just like you and Logan have?" Asha said with a wry little smile as she took a wet plate from Max and began drying it off with a tea towel. "You playing matchmaker, Max?"

"Yeah," Max agreed. "Me and Logan are livin' the dream. I've seen the way you look at Alec, Asha. And the way he looks at you. Go for it, girl. I know for a fact he's not hooked up permanent with anyone else."

"Max," Asha said, shaking her head. "In spite of what you think, Alec and I were never together. We never even went on a date, just a a few drinks that one night and afterwards he made it pretty clear he wasn't interested in a relationship with me."

"That was before," Max persisted. "He was afraid then that his being a transgenic would get you killed. In a way, it shows how much he really does care about you, Asha ... that he went out of his way to protect you."

"Funny," the other girl said, "but at the time I sort of got the impression Alec wasn't so much protecting me as he was protecting himself ... his heart ... putting up a wall so he didn't have to let loose and really care about someone else."

"Only because he's afraid he'll fall in love and then it will be taken away from him," Max said softly. "I can relate. Alec's scared, Asha, not selfish. He needs someone to show him that it's okay to love again."

Asha was watching the X5 in the other room through the kitchen's pass-through window. "He's very handsome," she said. "And smart and witty and brave and strong ... Any girl's dream, except for that whole 'made in a lab' thing."

"That bothers you?" Max said. "That Alec's DNA is different from a human's? That he's part feline?"

Asha looked at her, startled.

"You didn't know?" Max said, surprised. "About the whole feline DNA thing? I thought everyone knew about that what with the stories in the papers and all."

"Alec's part cat?" Asha said.

"Yeah," Max said. "So am I. What of it? Joshua's part dog, and you know what Mole is, assuming you've seen his picture."

"What part of him's cat?" Asha wondered, more closely studying that handsome form -- watching the way he moved -- as, Scotch still in hand, Alec walked around the table to the other side of the map.

Max shrugged elaborately. "It's on the cellular level," she said. "Muscle strength, neural pathways, reflexes, bones ... his senses. It's why we can see in the dark I suppose. Dunno. No one ever really sat down and explained it to us at Manticore." She grinned a little bit. "Don't worry. It's not like he has claws and a tail or anything."

Asha laughed, but it sounded forced. "Look, Max," she said. "I guess you're trying to fix Alec up because obviously he's a lonely, not to mention horny, guy, and I suppose I should be flattered you think I'm worthy of him. I know how much he means to you ... how important he is to all of you. But Alec doesn't want me. He never will."

"Oh come on, Asha," Max argued as she began to wash the silverware. "Don't sell yourself short. Alec likes blondes, and he likes you. You're smart and pretty and brave -- just the kind of girl he should probably be with."

"Max!" Asha said, the word harsher this time. "Stop. Stop trying to fix me up with Alec. I know what you're doing, and it's not just Alec you're worried about. It's yourself and Logan."

"What are you talking about?" Max said, a thrill of alarm racing through her gut as she realized she'd pushed a little bit too hard.

"You think I'm still in love with Logan," Asha said bluntly.

"Still?"

Asha looked at her knowingly, tipping her blonde head slightly to one side.

"Still implies you are, or have been, in love with Logan," Max said carefully. "You admit it?"

"Yes," Asha said. "I admit I'm--" she stammered a little then corrected herself. "That I was in love with Logan. But, like I told Alec that one time, Logan's in love with only you, Max. You make him happy and I would never interfere with that."

"But if I wasn't in the picture any more, you'd try to move back in on him, right?" Max said, needing to get it all out in the open.

Asha's silence was answer enough.

"Alec can be a really nice boyfriend if he wants to be," Max said, her own voice strained now.

"Alec's in love with you, Max," Asha said quietly. "Just like Logan is."

That floored Max. She'd always had a tiny suspicion that Alec's devil-may-care attitude about his relationship with her -- his erstwhile breeding partner -- wasn't completely platonic on his part, but for Asha to have seen what she claimed to see ... It was scary. No -- make that horrifying.

And it got worse.

"And you just want me to get him out of the way," Asha said softly. "You don't want to handle him yourself ... you don't know how because truth is -- I think you're in love with Alec too, in spite of your relationship with Logan." She put down the tea towel and placed hands on her narrow hips, staring Max down in a way few humans, let alone females, ever had. "You're in love with two men, Max. So am I, in a way, but for you it's a whole lot worse. I've always had it bad for Logan, and I could get there with Alec if I let myself. But you've got both of the guys in the palm of your hand, and you can't choose one over the other so you're trying to get Alec out of the picture by default by pairing him off with me. If Alec falls in love with me -- problem solved. But Alec's never going to fall in love with me, Max, because he's already in love with you and I don't think that's going to change. It's like there's this physical and emotional link between the two of you. Maybe it's Manticore ... maybe it's your breeding ... this cat thing ... but you and Alec are a couple even though you've chosen Logan as your mate."

"Alec would laugh his ass off if he heard you say that," Max said woodenly.

"No, he wouldn't," Asha said quietly. "He'd say it was the truth. I'm not going to solve your problem for you by seducing Alec, Max. One, he's too smart to fall for that, and two, I really do like him and wouldn't do that to him. In a way, I'm surprised you would. I guess just because you love him doesn't mean you're his friend. She put the towel down. "I'm going home."