Disclaimer:  The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Alec, Logan, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belong to their respective owners, not to me.  No money is being made off of this fic.  I only own the original characters (Brenda/X5-008, etc.).

“How many people came in yesterday?” I asked Dix several days later when I was checking in with him in the control room.  “What series?”

“Five people,” he replied.  “Two of them desert-series, the rest of them were X3s.  All of them were from the Wyoming facility, so you probably wouldn’t recognize them by site.”

“Probably not,” I agreed.  “What about—“

“What about you give me a welcome back, huh?”

I turned around and saw Max standing in the doorway, smiling.  My heart was pounding at the surprise.  I didn’t think that she and Eyes Loser—I mean, Logan would be getting back for another day or two.  I covered up my shock and gave her a smirk.  “In order for me to give you a welcome back, Maxie, you would have to be welcome here.”

“Shut up, ass,” Max said.

“I see a few days away hasn’t cured you of your obsession with my ass,” I pointed out.

“I see a few days hasn’t cured you of your stupidity,” Max said.  She smiled again.  “In spite of all of that, I still missed you.”

I smiled.  “I missed you too, Max.”  I walked up to her and gave her a hug.  “Welcome back home.”  I took a deep breath.  “How did it go?  You never called while you were away.”

“It went perfectly,” Max said.  “The virus is a thing of the past.  There’s nothing standing in the way between Logan and myself anymore.”

“Nothing except your responsibilities here and the fact that even with the transfusion of Josh’s blood that got his legs working again last year, it’s still unsafe for him to spend more than a little while at a time here in Terminal City,” I pointed out.  I winced inwardly.  That didn’t come out quite as gently as I had hoped.  I braced myself for the punch or slap from Max.  I blinked in surprise.  It never came.

“I know,” Max said, sighing dejectedly instead of punching me in the arm.  “If it’s not one thing, it’s another.”

“But you did get the first major obstacle cleared, right?” I said.  “All we have to do now is somehow get the government to let us out into the general public.”

“Which they haven’t shown the slightest interest in doing, in spite of what we’ve done by taking out White and his loony friends,” Max said.

“They could still be going over their options,” Dix said helpfully.

I nodded.  “That seems like a plausible scenario.”  I looked at Max.  “Hey, why are you so down?  I thought that we’d have to scrape you off of the ceiling when you came back if the trip was a success.”

“I’m fine.  I guess I’m just winding down after the excitement of the last few days or even weeks,” Max said.  “It’s been a lot.  Taking out White, getting rid of this virus, wouldn’t you be feeling drained?”

“I don’t know, I’ve got enough energy to—“  I winced when I felt Max’s fist connect with my shoulder.  There it was.  “I didn’t say anything bad, Max.”

“You were going to,” Max said.  “I’ve developed a sixth sense for this.”

“You have, huh?” I said.  I raised an eyebrow.  “Okay, Maxie, what am I about to say right now that’s going to be bad enough for you to punch me?”

“Shut up,” Max said.  “I need to get back to my apartment.  I told Logan that I’d call him when I got back here.”

I rolled my eyes.  “How old are you, Max, three?  Are you going to call your daddy to let him know that you’re all safe and sound?  Hey, Logan is kinda old for you.  I don’t think that he is old enough to be your father, but he might be pushing that age.  I don’t know everything.  How old is Logie, by the way?”

“Just shut the fuck up, Alec,” Max snapped.  “The age difference between myself and Logan is none of your business.  We’re both adults and that’s the only thing that matters.  And I agreed to let Logan know when I got in here because he asked me because he was concerned about me, okay?  That does not imply anything.  People who care about each other are usually concerned about each other.  I thought you would be at least smart enough to know that little fact.”

“I do know that fact, Max,” I said.  “I also thought that you would be smart enough to recognize the fine line between being concerned for somebody and being almost smothering or just plain overwhelming.  Yeah, you’re right.  You are an adult.  Does Logan recognize that or is he…how should I put this…old-fashioned?  You know, you might refer to it as caveman-type behavior where he doesn’t want to let his woman out of his sight if he can help it.  What’s going to be next?  He asks you to put a webcam up in your apartment to be able to keep an eye on you because he’s ‘concerned’?”

“Forget it!  I thought, ‘gee, Alec’s a good friend and I thought that he’d be happy for me that I finally got this virus bitch taken down for good,’ but boy was I wrong!  You really are nothing more than a good-for-nothing ass!” Max yelled.

“I am a good friend!” I protested.  “I’m a good friend who happens to be pointing out this over-protective behavior of Logan’s for your sake, Max!  It’s not healthy for either of you.”

“I think that I can make my own decisions about Logan!” Max said.

“I know that you can,” I said.  “Why don’t you actually use that X5 hearing of yours, Maxie?  Did I at any time say ‘don’t let Logan get away with this kind of behavior’?  I didn’t.  I simply gave you my own personal take on the situation and I’m letting you decide what to do about it like an adult should do.”  Max was actually quiet, though she was clearly still fuming.  We both knew that I’d won on that particular point and Max does not like it when somebody beats her in an argument, especially when the other person really is right.

“Fine,” she finally said.  “Thank you for treating me like an adult, Alec.  Now I’m going to go to my apartment and call Logan because I decided on my own to do that and then I’ll be back so that I can get back to work.  I’ll see you later.”  She turned around and left the control room.

“That was some argument,” Dix said.  “I thought that you were actually going to physically fight each other.”

I let my breath out.  “You know, I was starting to think that was going to happen myself.”  I shook my head.  “She is just so damn stubborn sometimes.  I just…it’s just impossible with her sometimes.”

“Yeah, that’s our fearless leader for you,” Dix agreed.  “Anyway, what do you think about the placement of these new arrivals?”

“Right, let’s check the database and see what kind of space we’ve got available for them,” I said.  We walked back to Dix’s computer.  I tried to forget about the argument that I’d had with Max, but I couldn’t push it completely out of my mind.  What was it with that woman?

TBC