Max agonized over what she could say to Alec all the way through Terminal City to the living area where she knew she could find Alec's room. She knocked loudly, rehearsing in her mind all the things she might say. She still didn't know what to say when Alec opened the door and looked guardedly at her.

For a moment, Max could only stand there stupidly, looking up at Alec and searching for words.

"Max," Alec prompted, his body almost seeming to block his room from her.

"I… uh, I…" Max gritted her teeth. "I owe you an apology."

Alec's eyebrows rose but otherwise he didn't move.

Max scowled. "Can we not do this out in the hall?"

At first, Max thought he was going to make her do just that. Then he stepped aside to let her into his room. It was not the first time Max had been in it, and now she couldn't stop thinking about what all the other transgenics in Terminal City had assumed was going on behind Alec's door. Max felt herself blush in embarrassment.

"So… should I get a witness to this? The Great Max admits she's wrong about something?" Alec almost snarled.

Max turned and frowned. She opened her mouth to insult him, then stopped herself. "You're not going to make this easy, are you?"

"With you? Max, when is anything ever easy?" Alec moved past her to flop down on his ratty futon couch. He crossed his arms over his chest defensively and looked up at her expectantly.

Max's gut told her to give him a good verbal lashing just for being Alec, but she stopped herself and was annoyed at how much effort it took. She went over to Alec's stained coffee table and sat on the edge, putting her so close to Alec that one of Alec's knees between her legs.

Alec's stony posture relaxed slightly and a hint of concern crept into his eyes at her unusual behavior.

"Look…" Max began stiltedly, "thing is, Alec… well… I'm sorry I'm such a bitch to you all the time," she finished in a rush.

"Uh huh. And you suddenly grew this big heart when?" he asked bitingly.

Max flinched. "Do you really think of me that way?"

It must have been her genuinely wounded tone that melted Alec's ice. He frowned, dropped his arms from his chest, and sat forward in his seat. It brought their heads almost temple to temple. Max made herself stay there and realized how comforting his closeness was.

"Of course I don't," Alec said lowly.

Max smirked wryly. "Wouldn't blame you if you did. The truth is that every time I've really needed you, you were there for me." She looked over at him, realizing for maybe the first time just how green his eyes were in the right light. "I give you so much shit, but you're always there when it really counts."

Alec shrugged one shoulder in a 'no big deal' gesture, but Max wasn't taking the easy out. Not this time.

"I think that maybe the Alec that can't be counted on, can't be trusted, can't take anything seriously… I think he's someone I just made up, and I've been punishing you for being someone you weren't." Max made a face at her own words. "Did that make any sense?"

"Nah, not really," Alec answered, then flashed a smile.

Max laughed. It bled a lot of the tension out of her and when she met Alec's eyes again, they were gentle.

Alec leaned back and scooted over on the couch in invitation.

Max got up and moved to sit beside him. The couch sagged in the middle and Alec and Max ended up pressed together. It was actually pretty nice. Alec stretched his arms over the back and Max, knowing full well what he was doing, played along and rested her head on his shoulder. On rare occasions, they had comfortable moments when they both couldn't remember why they were always mad at each other.

"I'm not saying it's going to happen overnight," Max said after a moment, "but I'm going to stop treating you the way I do. You don't deserve it, and I'm sorry."

Alec moved his opposite hand over to touch her forehead.

Max pulled out of the touch. "What are you doing?"

"Checking for fever."

Max gave him a playful punch in the ribs. "That's what I get for having a moment with you."

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I love that you're going to stop treating me like I'm your cross to bear when you know what? Sometimes, you were mine."

Max sneered then sighed. "I guess I deserve that."

Alec settled back more comfortably on the couch and Max, indulging in the moment, snuggled down against him.

"We could be friends, you know," Alec mumbled absently, as if contemplating the universe.

"I thought we were," Max countered, a little hurt.

"We've gotten good at tolerating each other well. I mean real friends. You know, the kind you want to be around."

Max craned her head around to look at him. Alec gazed down at her, waiting for her reaction. She had gotten used to seeing just the expressions on his face, the snide smile and the sneer and the sarcastic smirk, that she had stopped really seeing his face. She took the time to look. There was no denying he was attractive. That was just the way Manticore made them. But what was new and exciting was that there was such familiarity there in his face, too. She knew the freckles on his nose, the tongue that had such a tendency to drag on his bottom lip, the shade of his eyes that shifted slightly with his mood. She knew his killer eyes were grey, his companion eyes green. She knew that for all the seductive leers and sultry smiles he'd mastered, his genuine, honestly amused smile was his most beautiful smile of all.

She looked at him and in that moment it hit her that she was looking at the man she'd named. Alec. A tongue-in-cheek joke that had christened a man who had become a rock in her tumultuous world.

"Why did you keep the name?" she asked impulsively.

Alec blinked. "Huh?"

"Alec… I picked it… why did you keep it?"

Alec frowned slightly at the strange question, then a peek of tongue darted between his lips and tugged at the bottom lip. He cocked his head. "Honestly?"

"Yeah."

Alec shrugged. "I liked it. It was the first name someone gave me that didn't use to belong to someone else."

Max blinked.

Alec gave her a lop-sided smile. "It was like the first real gift I ever got."

Max smiled, pleasantly surprised. At the time, she had not meant to give him something he would cherish. She was glad now that she had named him.

And she was very happy she hadn't gone with 'Dick'.

"I want to try… you know, being real friends," Max said finally.

Alec looked long and closely at her, as if gauging her sincerity, and then he smiled. "I'm up for the challenge if you are."

They settled back on the couch together, almost awed by what they had just agreed to do.

"Why did you put up with me treating you like dirt?" Max asked suddenly, breaking the reverent silence between them.

To that, Alec had a very simple and immediate answer. "I trust my instincts ninety-nine percent of the time, and I had a good gut feeling about you."

Max took it as a compliment and tried not to think about all the other things that had good standing with Alec's gut. Max could do just as well without comparing herself to a pork rind.

"Hey, Max?"

"Hmmm?"

"I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship," Alec droned in a strange voice.

Max looked at him, confused.

Alec rolled his eyes. "All right, welcome to the world of Alec lesson one. Boob tube."

"I think I'm already regretting this," Max groaned.

Alec looked toward her, momentarily wounded at the sharp and quick turnaround.

Until Max smiled.

Alec chuckled.

Max didn't pretend that this would be easy, but already it felt right. She had a feeling that once she broke her old habits, liking Alec would be a lot easier than disliking him had been.

She was looking forward to that.

END