His Fight -- Chapter 8

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.).

I grabbed a towel that I left on a bench and wiped my face with it. That was much better. I love a good workout. I sat down on the bench and picked up my water bottle and took a sip as I watched two little X8s having a go at sparring. They might not have as much training as us older transgenics, but they sure had some enthusiasm. I looked up as Max sat down next to me. “Hey, Max. What’s up?”

“Came here for a workout,” Max said. “You done?”

“Yeah, I had a pretty good one,” I said. “How have things been going finding the rest of your brothers and sisters?”

“Not so good,” Max said. “Let’s just say that they would beat the hell out of you at Escape and Evade. At least Krit and Syl will finally be getting back from their fundraising trip in Europe tomorrow. I thought they were never going to be coming back.”

“It’s only been a few weeks,” I said. I shook my head. “I still can’t believe that they managed to get that much money while they were over there.”

“Oh?” Max said. “Weren’t you the one who suggested that we would be more likely to gather more money overseas than back here in the United States?”

“I know that, I’m just impressed with how well they did,” I said. “They definitely exceeded my base expectations for the trip.” I drank some more of my water. I really was impressed. “The meeting tomorrow afternoon to discuss how the funds should be distributed and used should be interesting.”

“No doubt,” Max agreed. “We’ve already replenished our weapons supply with some of the money from the big job that you and I pulled with Brenda and we’re finally fixing up those buildings over in the northeast corner of T.C. But knowing our people, they’ll find something to bitch about. Then again, how long have we been here in Terminal City and how much stuff do we still find that has to be fixed?”

“Good call,” I said. I sniffed and made a face. “Okay, I do believe that it is shower time for yours truly.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Max said. “The last time that I smelled something that rank it was a year ago back before we got our kitchen situation completely under control and that X6 attempted to make breakfast. You need to get into that shower pronto.”

“Would you like to join me, Maxie?” I said, grinning wolfishly. I felt my heart beat start to escalate and tried to ignore it.

Max smacked me. “In your wildest dreams, Alec.”

Actually, now that I think about it…what the hell is going on with me? “Suit yourself, Max.” I shrugged and got up. “I’m gonna get changed. Have a good workout. Do you want to meet in the cafeteria for dinner later? I’m supposed to meet Nick there but I know that he won’t mind if you join us. You know that he likes you.” I felt this irrational surge of jealousy. Okay, this is getting ridiculous. I feel like I’m about this close from doing Max’s job for her and kicking my own ass.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Max said. “I’m sneaking out to meet Logan for dinner.”

“Hey, if I had a choice between eating in the cafeteria or eating Logan’s cooking, I would pick Logan’s cooking every day of the year,” I said honestly. I would, too…if the idiot stayed in the kitchen.

“You and everybody else that’s present in Terminal City,” Max agreed. “Unfortunately, nobody’s got an invite except for me. It’s a date.”

Oh look, it’s jealousy again! Maybe I should wave to it. “Yeah, well, I hope Logie doesn’t bore you to death with his schtick,” I said.

“Excuse me?” Max said, her eyes narrowing. Uh-oh, I spy an ass-kicking coming my way. I quickly glanced up at the clock that was on one of the gym walls.

“Oh, will you look at that,” I said. “It’s time for me to shower and change in the locker room. Bye, Max.” I blurred over to the locker rooms where I was safe…I hoped. I didn’t think that Max would be pissed enough to follow me in here, but you never knew. I had no doubt that she would do that if she was angry enough. I quickly stripped off my workout clothes and jumped into one of the shower stalls and set a new speed record for showering. I dried off and changed back into my normal clothes and I hauled ass out of the gym. Once I got to where I thought was a fairly safe distance, I sat down on some building’s steps and sighed.

What was going on with me? It really was starting to get ridiculous. Why the hell am I all of a sudden so weird around and when it comes to Max? We’ve been friends for quite awhile now so what gives with how I’ve been acting lately? I certainly didn’t have a clue what the fuck was happening in my head. I frowned. This was giving me almost as much of a headache as the last time I had to listen to Logan go off on one of his ‘saving the less fortunate’ rants.

I clenched my fist. You know, that guy doesn’t have to be in the room for me to have to fight the urge to give him a beat down. Every single time I think about how annoyingly whiney he is, how he sometimes seems to somehow look down on us transgenics despite claiming to be in love with one, how he thinks that he’s above and beyond anybody, and most of all how disgustingly possessive he is when it comes to Max. Who does he think that she is? She’s an independent, self-confident woman, not some clingy little girl who needs her daddy to hold her hand as she crosses the street. For God’s sake, she only needed you in the first place because she wanted to find her brothers and sisters. You more or less blackmailed her into sticking around after she swiped that statue from you. Fucking jerk. Calm down, Alec! This is stupid. You need to be able to think clearly in order to figure this out and not act like you’re Max’s boyfriend even though you wish that you were—

I slapped myself in the forehead. That was it! I wanted Max. I was in love with the woman. That’s why I couldn’t stand how Logan treated her and why I hated the jerk in general. Okay, I don’t think that I would have liked him all that much regardless because he doesn’t have a clue—okay, getting off track again. I love Max and I wanted her to be my girlfriend for real. I wanted…I don’t know, everything. I wanted to be with her, be her friend, be her lover…call me greedy, but I don’t care. That’s just how I feel.

“Bren’s going to have an ‘I told you so’ fest when I tell her,” I muttered to myself. Brenda always was good at picking up on things like this. I sighed. Even so, what was I going to do now? I chuckled. What else was I going to do? I was going to get Max. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I always liked doing things the hard way. Where’s the fun in doing it any other way?