INTO OBLIVION.

Summary: 2-11-07. Dark Angel. MA, sort of. Logan unfriendly, because I never liked him. PG. About 2000 words.Alec thinks about Max, and then she shows up with some unexpected news.

A/N: Only my 2nd DA fic, so please try to be polite. I think I have Alec pretty good, but Max, I don't know. Let me know what you think, honestly but politely, please! Thank you :) Hope you enjoy!

He was sitting alone, at the foot of his couch, on the floor, trying to drink himself into oblivion. He knew it wouldn't work, but he tried to anyway. He was an X5; a CO for crying out loud and he could do whatever the hell he wanted. Unless, of course, she told him not to. She was the boss. Most of his former unit would probably call him whipped, but he didn't really mind. He liked being the center of her attention more often than not. Speaking of, that was what landed him here in the first place. He hadn't figured it out right away, which considering his IQ was surprising, but now he was pretty sure. He was falling in love with her. He was pretty sure of it. Since she saved his life, most likely. He couldn't really put a date on it. Between her drop dead looks (and he'd seen some good looking women in his time), and her sarcasm and her ... well, her everything. She was perfect. Or she would be if she got rid of her "not like that" boyfriend. Puh-leeze. And so he was sitting alone, at the foot of his couch, on the floor, trying to drink himself into oblivion while trying to forget that she'd abandoned him to have a pasta dinner at said roller-boyfriend's house.

His friends had stopped by a couple of hours ago and knocked on his door, but he'd stayed quiet and they'd left him alone. They knew he was in there because they were like him--Big Fella had sniffed around and decided not to open the door. His friends knew better than to bother him when he wanted to be alone. He was sure that she would probably barge in eventually, without announcing her presence or knocking on the door, and probably reprimand him for something he may or may not have done. That's just how she worked, and he kind of enjoyed getting her riled up. The Log only ever made her feel apathetic, except when something dangerous or stupid happened, and even then she forgave the rolling-wonder. With him, she had passion. He didn't really care if it was anger, or hate. Sometimes it was genuine gratitude, or something remotely close to happiness, but usually not. So he was sitting alone, at the foot of his couch, on the floor, trying to drink himself into oblivion.

He wanted to make her happy, all the time, every day. But mostly he just settled for baiting her; he desperately wanted to see the emotion flare in her eyes, even if it meant a few jabs at his ribs or whacks to the head. It never hurt, at least not physically. Emotionally, well, after Rachel ... well, he'd better not get into that. That would keep him sitting alone, at the foot of his cou--

"Alec!"

She barged through the door, just like he suspected she would. "What the hell are you doing?" She sounded more annoyed than angry.

"Well, Maxie, I was sitting at the foot of my couch, trying to--"

"That's not what I meant. And don't call me Maxie." He turned at the change in her voice to see her in a relaxed pose--not like he'd expected. She sighed and walked over to sit next to him, and when she grabbed the near-empty bottle of scotch from him, he was almost stunned into silence. Almost.

"Alright Max, I don't want to be obnoxious but--"

"Yes, you do." He considered it, and nodded his head in agreement.

"Okay, so I want to be a tiny bit obnoxious, but why aren't you at Logan's? What happened to the latex hand-holding and the wine and the pasta love-fest that was planned for tonight that you bailed on me for?" He almost didn't want to know the answer. She was quiet, and took the last swig of his scotch.

"I never told you how I met Logan, did I?"

"No ... but I really--"

And then she began to ramble. "I broke into his house. And he caught me, I ran out, and of course, he eventually figured out who I was. I didn't know he was Eyes Only until later." It's the he kind of rambling he didn't think he ever wanted to hear, under any circumstances. "Anyway, stuff went down and he ended up getting shot because of me. And so I stuck around, doing Eyes Only jobs for him because he'd promised to help me find my brothers and sisters."

He wanted to interrupt, really, he did, but something told him now would be a bad idea. "Every once in a while he'd come through, but mostly I did work for him, and then I got sent back to Manticore." She paused, as if she was trying to figure out what came next. He knew what came next. He did. "And I met you."

He took this opportunity to step in. "And it all went downhill from there," he said casually, standing up and walking toward the liquor cabinet in hope that he might not have drunken it all. "Look, Max, memory lane is fun and all but I--"

"It was downhill for a little bit. You tried to kill Josh and me, and then I saved your life and ruined my own in the process. But then you didn't go away and I, I kind of." She stopped and sighed as he looked for more liquor, and tried to brace himself for the eventual letdown of what was inevitably going to come out of her mouth next.

"I kinda hope you don't."

That was definitely not what he'd expected. If he'd actually found any liquor, it would have shattered on the floor. He turned around slowly; working up his throat to form an appropriate sentence. "What do you mean?" Sentence, yes. Appropriate, well, he'd find that out in a minute.

"Well, I mean." She sighed and got up from her place on the floor. "I mean you're my best friend." Oh. Friend. "Other than Cindy." Right. "And Joshua." Okay. "And since I've figured this out, I've been wondering why I am so stuck on being with Logan."

"That makes two of us," he says, and she glares at him a little. She's just admitted he's one of her closest friends, so he figures a glare from her is probably equivalent to a smile from a "normal" person.

"Please, Alec, I'm trying to say something here."

"Well, I'm just saying, your wonder-boy doesn't seem to make you feel anything. Every time he calls or tries to communicate with you, you roll your eyes and ask someone else to do it for you. I get more emotion out of you than he does! Even Mole has more effect on you than Logan!" Oops. Maybe the booze did have some effect on him.

"What was I supposed to do, just give up on a two-year relationship? I can't just cast people aside like you do!"

"This here, you yelling at me is exactly what I'm talking about, Max! I can't figure out why-- He's trying to make his point and she doesn't seem to be getting it. And the only way he was going to do that was to calm down. He takes a deep breath and rubs the back of his neck habitually. "Sorry. What were you trying to say?"

"I finished things with Logan."

"What do you mean 'finished'? Like you succeeded in the last mission? Like you've wiped the slate clean? Like you finished eating early? Like what?"

"I saw him with Asha this afternoon when I went over there." She sat back down on the couch, facing away from him. Her voice was oddly impersonal, and detached. He recognized it--Max called him "494" when he did it. Nothing can hurt you if you lack emotion. Even so, it was decidedly unlike Max. "Like, with Asha. He knew I was coming over for dinner, and they waltzed out in matching robes and thought I wouldn't mind, or something."

Oh, like that. "Oh. Like that." He walked over to her, and thought about giving her a hug. Would that be awkward? He decided sitting next to her would be okay. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's like you said. He's not my wonder-boy anymore." They sat together for a little while. It wasn't uncomfortable. But he wished she would say something. After what felt like four-hundred fifty two minutes of silence, he decided he couldn't help it anymore.

"You know what I was actually doing before you barged in here?"

"Drowning yourself in scotch? Wasn't a bad idea, actually."

He chuckled a bit, and then turned to look at her, trying to gauge her reaction. She looked back at him intensely, and for a second he thought he might forget what he was going to say. "I was thinking about you." Better to get it out quickly than drag it out. Like ripping off a bandage.

"So I made you drink ..." Both of them looked at the three empty bottles next to their feet simultaneously. "Three bottles of liquor?"

"Well, not exactly." How should he phrase it? "I was thinking about you and me. How I think..." He trailed off for a moment, try to regain his nerve. It was funny how he could do almost anything in the entire world; diffuse a bomb, hold his breath underwater for 3 times longer than any Ordinary and such, but this--he had no idea. "I think you're my best friend, too." That would be good enough. It was true, at least. "Other than Joshua," he added. Just to be safe.

She smiled and punched him lightly on the shoulder. Like a friend would. She stood up and he found himself trying to think of a way to make her stay.

"You know, Alec. We could be more than friends, if you wanted," she said as she walked to the door. She was kidding, right? Had he heard her right? He must have been dreaming. She was standing in his doorway, and at that moment, didn't he ever want to be more than friends. But he couldn't. He had to be a friend. Be supportive. Brotherly, even. No, he didn't like the way that sounded. He never had liked the idea of being twinned from Ben, her 'brother'. But that wasn't the issue right now. He needed to get himself together and make a decent reply.

"Um, Maxie, you just broke things off with Logan, shouldn't you be—?" She started to grin. He wasn't hallucinating. Better put on a face. Or play along. "But I guess," he stood up and slowly walked up to her. She'd stopped grinning, but she didn't look like she wanted to murder him, either. Far from it, actually. If he had to put a word to it, he'd probably call it lust. He put his hand on her waist and breathed in her ear, "If you want."

And for half of a second, he thought she was actually going to give in. Most females melted into soup at this point of the game. But he knew she wasn't like other girls. Fact, that's what he liked most about her, probably. But still, for that half of a second, he was sure she was going to come around. She leaned into his neck and whispered, "Nice try, Alec." And she walked away, hips swaying and all, just like that.

It was a good thing he was a transgenic, because he'd just remembered Mole owed him a keg from the last box of cigars he'd smuggled in, and he intended on drinking it. All of it. He also knew a nice spot at the foot of his couch, on the floor, where he planned on trying to drink himself into oblivion. Well, maybe not all the way.

fin.