A Quiet Night

Disclaimer:  The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Brin, 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.

Notes:  Special thanks to jracklesfan77 for giving me the idea for this fic!  This is what should have happened (or what I think should have happened because I am NOT a fan of Logan) in the cabin that night between Max and Zack in the season 1 episode "Blah Blah Woof Woof" after the scene actually ended in that episode, which is where this fic starts.  One-shot.  Spoilers/spoiler-ish stuff for "Cold Comfort" and "Blah Blah Woof Woof."

They were quiet for several minutes before Max looked up at Zack.  "So..."  She sighed softly.  "God, I just don't have anything to say.  I can't think of anything."

"It's okay," Zack said.  "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

"I know," Max said.  She laughed a little.  "Talk about a role reversal."

"This doesn't usually happen with you and I," Zack agreed.

"I know," Max said.  "So, how have you been doing since the last time that I saw you?"

"Pretty good," Zack said.  "It's been the usual.  I've been keeping a little busier than usual lately."

Max looked and saw his eyes start to harden again.  "Because of Brin, isn't it?"

Zack nodded and to Max's relief, she saw his eyes soften again.  "Yeah.  I don't get it, Maxie.  I just don't understand how she could make the decision to willingly go back like that.  I know that she was dying, but..."

"We're all different people," Max said quietly.  "Brin isn't like you and me.  Not to say that she is weak, but when faced with that situation, she made a different choice than either of us would have made.  All we have to do is wait until we get an opportunity to get her back and hope that she can resist whatever Lydecker and company throws at her."

"We'll do it," Zack said.

"Zack?" Max asked.  "This will sound very stupid, but when was the first time that you ever..."  She paused for a moment to choose the right words.  "...felt like a normal person, just like everybody else?  Have you ever felt like that at all?"

"I don't know," Zack said honestly.  "The closest I might have ever felt to a normal person was probably one time when I was about seventeen.  I was passing through Cleveland and I needed some money so I planned to rob this bank that was in one of the few nice sectors left in that city.  I remember that I got there and these other boys who looked to be about my age showed up.  They were obviously a gang and it was equally as apparent that they were there for the same reason that I was.  I needed the money and I didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention so I managed to talk the other guys into working together with me and splitting the money evenly.  I made up a new plan and we went in and took pretty much everything.  When we got away, they were laughing and seemed to be having a good time and after we'd split the money up, they talked me into going to a local bar with them to have a beer and I did and I remember feeling pretty good.  I felt like a part of a group and then I got scared that I shouldn't get too used to it and stay for too long so after I made sure that they got back to where they were staying before they passed out, I left Cleveland."  He looked down for a moment.  "Also, it reminded me too much of that one time the summer before the escape when Lydecker split us up and we ran that game of Capture the Flag as boys against girls and my side won.  I could almost see Krit and Zane high fiving each other or Ben looking at everybody and smiling and laughing and making jokes and everybody else and I could even see Tinga in the corner shaking her head and wondering how it was possible for us to act like three-year-olds."

Max laughed.  "I can definitely see Tinga doing that.  She always did mother us."

"She--she's still like that," Zack said.  Max raised an eyebrow at his hesitation and he thought for a few minutes before he started talking again.  "She has a son.  He's about four years old."

"Tinga has a little boy?  Oh my God," she said.  She grinned.  "I had a feeling that she would be the first one among us to actually have a family of her own."

"Do you want to have a family of your own someday, Maxie?" Zack asked softly.

Max felt her heartbeat speed up a little and tried hard not to blush.  "Yeah, I guess I do.  It'd be nice to have a little boy or a little girl of my own and all.  I'm not ready for that yet, but I definitely want it to happen someday."  She smiled.  "That took so much courage from Tinga to actually have a child now with all this mess going on, being chased by Lydecker and everybody.  Then again, it takes a lot of courage just to have a child at all."

"I can only imagine," Zack agreed.  He looked thoughtful.

Max smiled, her eyes sparkling, her usual sassiness apparent in her face.  "I bet that we're just a bunch of babies, huh?"

"You'd be saying that again after seeing Krit drunk," Zack said, but his eyes held a similar sparkle.

"Oh brother," Max said.  "Is he really that bad?"

"One time last year when I was going to check up on him, I got into the city where he was living at the time a day or so early and I went to a local bar to have a beer and check things out, just in case," Zack said.  "It was close to midnight when I got there and as I was approaching the entrance, I heard the most awful noise and it sounded like Krit, so I picked up my pace and I went inside and our youngest brother is standing up on a stage, clearly plastered, singing Karaoke, and making a complete fool out of himself.  I went right up to him and grabbed him off of the stage and he was whining and complaining like a two-year-old all the way back to my motorcycle and he was still bitching and moaning by the time I got him into his apartment."  He stopped and grinned when he heard Max's laughter.

"That's unbelievable," Max said.  "I can completely picture it, too."  She stood up and went over to her bag and took her cell phone out of it and using the phone as a mic, starting to sing in a badly off-key voice, making dramatic gestures with both the hand holding her 'mic' as well as her free hand while Zack continued to smile.  She hit a high note and made an especially grand gesture and accidentally flung her cell phone away.  It smashed into pieces against the wall and Max sighed in frustration.  "Damn."

"I'll help you," Zack said.  He got up and he and Max went over to where the pieces of her cell phone lay on the floor.  "That phone looks like it's a total loss."

"Yeah, it does," Max said.  She sighed.  "It's just as well, I guess.  It would make sense to get a new phone when we get into Canada."  She reached for a piece of plastic.  "Still, it does suck."

"Probably does," Zack said.  They reached for a piece at the same time and their hands touched and their eyes met and they found themselves leaning towards each other when Zack pulled back.  Don't force it.  She's already moving away from the place that's been her home for the past few years.  Don't drop too much too soon on her.  "Sorry."

"It's cool," Max said.  She felt strangely disappointed and tried to shake that feeling off.  They both turned and looked out the window.  "It looks like the rain has stopped."  She looked at her watch.  "It's still not even midnight."

"If we get going now, we'll be in Vancouver well before sunrise," Zack finished.  "We can catch some sleep there and then we'll start moving again and look for a place for you to settle down in for awhile.  Personally, I've always liked Toronto."

"Maybe you can show me around there sometime soon," Max suggested.

"Yeah," Zack said.  He grinned again.  "That sounds like fun."

"You're actually willing to have fun?" Max teased.

Zack shrugged, but he was still smiling.  "Maybe."

They got their things together, put out the fireplace, and put everything else away and they left the cabin, closing and locking the door behind them.  As they walked onto the road, Max sighed and turned around and looked back in the direction of Seattle.  Zack noticed and put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, Maxie," he said.  "This will turn out okay, I promise."

Max turned to face him and she felt a smile come across her face.  "Yeah.  You're right.  It might just be okay after all."  Zack smiled back at her and they continued north towards Canada together.

The end!