Not so Different

Summary: A fight between Max and Alec prompts him to leave TC. M/A

Disclamer: The characters of Dark Angel do not belong to me. They belong to a guy named James and I think the other´s one name is something like Eglee or something like that.

Author´s Note: First stand alone ever. Posted in 2006. Edited on 2015. How far i've come with my English.

Alec tossed the few items of clothing he owned on a medium size black bag laying open on his bed. There were not many things in his apartment that actually meant anything to him, so there wasn't much to carrying.

He was leaving Terminal City.

It had taken Alec four months to make this decision; he shouldn't have stayed in the first place. The moment the policemen retreated from Terminal City after the hostage situation at Jam Pony, he should've left straight to the border. But Max's speech and the fact that he'd actually believed every single word that'd come out of her mouth had made him stay.

He still believed in her words, but he'd drawn a line. And today, Max had crossed it.

It had all started when they began bickering over a small mistake Alec had made. Ok, maybe not that small. He had almost gotten some of them killed during their attempt to get ammo, and as soon as they made it back, unharmed, Max had ripped him a new one. Alec had taken her yelling and insults like a big boy because he knew she was right. But two weeks after the incident, this morning, Max had brought that particular subject back into the conversation and Alec finally snapped. Mole won the bet he had started with the rest of the Transhumans. And they said horrible things to each other.

"I just can't believe how unreliable you can be!" said Max.

"You know what? You're right. I'm completely unreliable," he snapped. "I serve no purpose here, so I think it's time I get the hell out of Terminal City... as soon as you stop bitching, of course! You think that'll be any time soon?"

She knew he meant it. He'd leave. And that angered her even more.

"Oh, well, that's just great!" she spat out. "You just proved what I've saying for the last ten minutes! Really brave, Alec! Just run away from your problem instead of facing it!"

"My only problem right now is you! And I've had my life time quota of your nagging. And look who's talking," he replied, hurt, "I'm not the one who leaves whenever things get too hard. I stay, and I put up with things. But everything has a limit and I've reached mine, so, yeah, I'm bailing out!" He looked at her for a moment, and then added, just for the sole purpose of hurting her at least a bit, "That's what you do, after all, don't you?"

After a few seconds, she answered his statement with fury in her eyes. "Maybe you should leave. It's not like we really need you here, anyway."

The last thing she'd said to him had been the one thing that had helped him make his decision. The fact that she did not need him made things much easier; the weight of his guilt diminishing every time he heard her words in his mind. It's not like we really need you here, anyway. Butit still hurt, because, as much as he tried to deny it, he did need her. He needed Terminal City, and he needed his people.

Alec heard the front door open as someone entered the apartment he shared with Joshua without knocking. He knew it wasn't Josh for the steps were light and short, instead of long and heavy as Joshua's. His bedroom door opened and there stood a very serious looking Max.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. She came back for more; one last round of yelling and bitching before he left.

"Please, don't go," were the simple words that came out of Max's lips.

Alec blinked at her, not sure if he'd heard right. And as he looked at her, the way she stood in front of him, the way she looked at him, a bit nervous, he knew he'd heard just fine.

"What?" Alec managed to say, confused.

She looked down, took a deep breath and sighed. "I don't want you to go." Then, a few moments later, she added, "Please."

What surprised him the most was the lack of pride in her voice; she wasn't saying this out of her better judgement. She was being honest.

He put down the pair of jeans, the bag behind him forgotten. 'Why?'

She knew he would ask that. Why? He had put up with some much of her mood swings, he was entitled to that question; and she owed him an answer.

"I fucked up," she replied; she bit her lip and took a breath before continuing, her eyes anywhere but on him. "I don't expect you to be perfect, Alec. I know I tell you you're a screw up more than once a week, at least. But you're the only person in here I actually trust."

He stood there like a statue, listening her open up to him. It reminded him of that night at her apartment, when she told him she'd been the one to finish Ben per his own request. There was an unwillingness in the way her shoulders tensed and she bit her lip, which came so natural to her when it came to her feelings, but he could see her fighting her own nature to tell him what needed to be said.

"The truth is we're not so different; we think alike," she continued with a small smile. "You knew that already." Her eyes rested on him for a second. "It's just that things changed for me after... after Logan. It used to be just me and the road ahead, but then Logan showed up and with him many other people I couldn't help caring about. And then everything got too serious, too dangerous… too fast. And here I am, in charge of over 150 transgenics; trying to keep them alive. So, yeah, I know I can be a bit bitchy." Alec raised his eyebrow. "Ok, I'm a total bitch, sometimes… Ok! Most of the time. And I know I don't thank you enough for what you do around here. So, I just want you to know that I am grateful."

He was a sucker. He knew it the second those big brown eyes laid on him. And she always gave the best damn speeches. Before he could answer, she continued.

"I worry about you—all of you." She sighed, frustrated; she couldn't find the words she wanted to say. "I don't want anyone to get hurt or killed… especially not you. That's why I get mad at you when you pull your little stunts like the one on the last heist. I need you to pay more attention, Alec, 'cause I don't know what would become of Terminal City without you."

"Max, I'm not the only one that's loyal to you. A lot of use believe in you," he assured her. "If something happened to me, they'd have your back."

"It's not the same, Alec," Max argued. "Sometimes, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't have the same training you've had and I definitely don't have the kind of bond you share with the rest."

He understood what she was saying. "Max, you're our leader, whether I'm your second or not. They follow you."

A sad, little smile appeared on her lips, like she didn't believe what he was saying. Max shrugged, with her hands in her jeans' pockets. "You shouldn't go. You should stay; for TC… for Josh… for me?" Max couldn't help blushing at the end.

She wasn't the blushing type, and she'd admitted she'd been wrong many times before; it wasn't that big of a deal. Unless she was blushing for a completely different reason. He'd gotten to know Max quite well in all the time they'd known each other, and he'd learnt to read her quite well. But this, he'd never seen. She'd been avoiding his eyes from the moment she showed up at his doorstep, but now that she was looking at him, she wouldn't let go of him. There was an intensity in her eyes, like she was begging him to understand what she was saying, begging him to read her so she wouldn't have to actually say it. Alec had an unwavering need to surround her small but powerful body with his arms, and felt himself blush as well as he realized what she was doing. She was looking at him; really looking at him. Not at Ben; not at Manticore. She was looking at her SIC, her friend... her something.

"Where's Logan?" Alec suddenly asked, still immerse in her eyes. He needed to know if this was real, and it would not be with old Eyes Only in the picture. "I haven't seen him in a while."

"He's out of town; decided to change his place of operation. White's too close to find him," she answered.

"So, what? You're gonna leave town every once in a while to visit him, or…?" he asked again, as he never got the answer he'd been looking for.

"No. He'll help us, from wherever he decides to settle down. But that... it's over." He knew she meant their relationship. He was curious about it, he hadn't heard of it before, not from her nor from Dix, who was always in contact with the older man. But the curiosity was soon gone.

None of them realized they were now standing toe to toe, until she was able to feel his breath on her face. And then she felt his hands on hers, and then his hands moved to her waist, and her hands made her way up his chest and laid them over his shoulders. And then, neither of them could hold back anymore.

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