Battle Worn
Jun. 4th, 2007 07:03 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
meimei42.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
jam_pony_ficTitle: Battle Worn
Fandom: Dark Angel
Paring: No real pairing. A little Max/Logan, and if you squint some Max/Alec, but that's it
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I do not own any of it. Though if I could have Alec I would be a happy girl. :P
Warning: not betaed.
Word Count: 2773
Author’s note: Okay I am just going to say this before you read because I had a really angry review after someone read this. I have NOTHING against Logan. I like the guy. I was going for a dramatic punch, nothing more. This is a bit angsty, so you are warned.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
“This is it,” Max whispered, her voice tired and uncertain as she stuffed the clip into her handgun. She'd never liked guns. They’d become a necessity in life recently though; one she loathed but lived with. Today there was a very real chance she wouldn’t make it through without one.
“Sure is, Maxie,” Alec replied, his voice just as quiet as he checked his own weapon. They stared at each other for a moment; neither knowing exactly what to say or how to say it. Max’s eyes plead for reassurance while Alec’s begged her not to ask. There was too much uncertainty, and too much already running on faith alone. They had asked each other to risk their lives and at the end of this all, there was no guarantee either would make it back alive. With no empty promises to give them false hope Max turned her focus back to the game plan.
“I saw two snipers on the roof, another three in the building across the street. White has his main army out front, but we have reports of the enemy attempting to out flank us. Won't be long before we're surrounded.” She licked her lips and looked at him, fully taking him in. The white spots were beginning to appear on his skin just like they had appeared on Gem’s and Original Cindy’s. They weren’t fully formed yet, just discolored patches really. That was good. He had two weeks if this didn’t work, maybe more. Enough time to get everyone who was still healthy out of the city.
The marks on his skin read like an ill omen of what was to come if she didn’t succeed. In a strange way it gave her the reassurance she needed. Reminded her she was doing the right thing.
“Max…” Alec’s voice trailed off, reaching out for her arm. They both stood there for a moment, silent and unmoving. He didn’t have the heart to finish his statement and so she spoke.
“I know,” she whispered. “I know. Let’s go, there isn’t much time.” She cocked her gun and started towards the side escape Joshua had found for them. There would be familaries near by no doubt but not nearly as many as waited for them at the front. Pulling back the wire gate, Alec crawled through first before turning and waiting for her. Once she was through they hid the entrance and scanned the area for enemies.
“Stick close to the buildings and the snipers won’t see you. Its dark enough that their eyes won’t pick you up out of the shadows if you’re careful,” Alec said, pointing silently where each one was holed up. “Once I draw the familiar’s away you break for the van. We’ve only got one shot at this. Mole is creating a distraction at the front gate but if they see you…just be careful.”
Max took a deep breath. If they saw her they would kill her on site. She threatened the Breeding Cult’s entire plans of world domination. Really, Max would have liked nothing more than to turn back and crawl into the safety of Terminal City, but these days safety was an illusion and if they didn’t finish this now then they would all be done for. It was only a matter of time.
“Be safe, Alec,” Max whispered, reaching out and squeezing her hand around his. It took every ounce of strength to finally pull away. She felt like a child being torn away from the safety of her family. As much as he liked pushing her buttons and annoying her, Alec was home, Alec was her family and she had to remind herself she was doing this for her family.
Silently she sidled around the side of the building while Alec stepped out from the shadows, gun in hand. The familiar’s spotted him and immediately pounced. He got in a few good punches and a couple shots off before being knocked to the ground. Max couldn’t watch anymore after that and with a deep breath she pressed forward. She prayed Alec would make it through the fight. All she had was her hope to help him.
Loud noises coming from the west told Max that Mole had put whatever plan he had into action. He and a few dozen others were some of the few Manticore soldiers still healthy enough to fight. Not even transgenics were immune to the deadly virus White had unleashed on Seattle. Some of the transhumans were fairing better against the viral onslaught but they were still getting sick and they were still dying. Humans, transhumans, transgenics; every race of man was slowly being wiped out to make way for the coming of White and his people and there was only one way to fix things. It had taken a long time to figure it out but now they had it. It was up to Max to put an end to this. She would be the one to save them all.
Her blood carried the necessary pathogens to create an anti-virus. If they could create the anti-virus they could heal the thousands of people dying in their homes and in the streets. Just getting infected wasn’t enough though. In order to produce an anti-virus strong enough to kill the virus in people with the advanced stages of White’s disease she would need a concentrated dose. People were depending on her to now. She just hoped she wouldn’t let them all down. There was no certainty how any of this would all turn out.
The van was only a few blocks away. Far enough away from the fighting to not draw the attention to the familiars but as close to TC as Logan could get them. It would have been too easy for her to make it there undetected of course. Max’s life could never be accused of being an easy one.
Two familiars with feral looking expressions jumped out at her from a darkened alley way. She didn’t have time for this. Familiars didn’t feel pain but Max knew they would feel a bullet between their eyes. Two shots and they were both on the ground. Of course firing a gun drew attention. It was safe to say every familiar within a mile's distance had heard her gun go off; she had to move quickly and only hope that Mole’s distraction was holding.
Max picked up her speed, blurring from shadow to shadow, hoping to provide some cover for herself as familiar’s drew closer. A bullet whizzed by her head, embedding itself in the wall next to her. She swallowed hard. The snipers had spotted her.
She could see the van ahead. Rusted, old, and completely inconspicuous, it was exactly as described. Logan waited for her in there; it wasn’t far now. The commotion coming from Terminal city was growing louder. The snipers must have alerted White because more and more familiars were heading her way, she could hear their footsteps coming at a rapid pace. It was time to run for it. She made a straight beeline for the van, not bothering to cover her tracks or hide in the shadows. Bullets flew by her but she was quicker than they were and managed to get through with only a graze on her arm.
When she reached the van she pounded on the door four times, paused once and pounded again. The sliding door flew open and Logan’s gloved hand reached out and pulled her inside. The door closed behind her and the van flew into drive, taking them far away from the centralized war zone.
“You have it?” Max asked; out of breathe more from fear than the actual run.
“Yeah, we do,” Logan nodded, looking towards Asha. The blonde woman reluctantly reached into her purse and pulled out the vial and syringe.
“Inject me,” Max said quickly. No one in the van moved.
“Max,” Asha started. Max shook her head. She didn’t want to hear it. They’d told her on the phone, she already knew how this would go down.
“Just do it.”
“We don’t even know for sure that it will work,” Logan said, swallowing the lump in his throat. She couldn’t handle this. For once being the strong one was just too much. She wished Logan would just take charge and do what needed to be done because she felt ready to crumble under the pressure.
“Please, Logan,” Max begged, rolling up her sleeve. He didn’t say anything; just read her eyes then nodded to Asha to hand him the supply. He held the vial up and stuck the long needle through the cork cap, drawing out the liquid inside until the syringe was full. He tapped it gently with his fingers to release any air bubbles before looking down at Max.
“You ready?”
She hesitated a moment. “Is it going to hurt?” she asked, her voice smaller than she would have wanted it. She usually dealt with pain pretty well but truth be told besides the siezures she'd never really been sick. She wasn't even sure what it would feel like.
“I don’t know,” Logan replied honestly. Max stared forward for a moment, taking a calming breath before nodding and holding out her arm to him again. He took her arm in his hands, the laytex sliding down her skin as he looked for a somewhere to insert the needle. He chose the crook of her elbow, pressing the sharp point through the translucent skin before releasing the liquid into the prominent blue vein. Max only made a small hissing noise when her skin was pierced before laying her head back against the side of the van and closing her eyes as the virus pumped its way through her blood stream.
“Once your body produces the anti-bodies we’ll be able to synthetically replicate them,” Logan said, watching her for reaction. Marks began to form on her skin at a rapid pace, white splottes growing paler by the second. It was like watching the progression of White's disease on fast forward. Once her body started fighting the virus then they would be able to draw her blood and create the cure to the virus they needed.
“How are you doing, Max?” Logan asked.
“Been better,” she replied softly, her breathing become restricted and hitching ever few second in pain as marks began to appear on her chest. After a few minutes the marks began to fade and her cheeks started to flush as her anti-bodies began to work, raising her body temperature to dangerous levels.
"Her body is fighting it," Asha said quickly, handing Logan a second syringe. Carefully Logan reached for Max's arm, taking it and picking a vein near where the first had been. Slowly he inserted the needle and began to withdrawl blood, filling three vials.
“I think this will be enough,” Logan said, handing the syringe and vials to Asha before moving towards Max whose eyes were getting droopy. Her skin was burning hot. He pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head as he did.
"Logan, no” Max said, trying to weakly push him away. The fever was taking its toll on her. "Logan the virus."
“I can’t take the anti-virus, Max. Your blood…it still has the retrovirus. I take it and I’m dead. I don’t take it and I’m dead. This is it,” he whispered. She felt her heart tighten at his words. He’d never said anything on the phone, never even mentioned he was infected with White’s virus. Now that she looked though she could see the pale patches on his skin that would likely form into the solid white spots the dotted every infected person. She wanted to cry but she was shaking so hard every sob was swallowed back down before it could reach the surface.
"No, Logan. There has to be another way," she said, shaking her head.
"There's no other way," he whispered, pulling his gloves off and interlacing his fingers with hers. While the white welts on her skin began to fade and pustual marks began to make their way along his skin, showcasing the presense of the retrovirus.
“I love you, Max,” Logan whispered, his breathing becoming shaky and broken as he laid his cheek against hers.
"Love you too, Logan,” Max replied just as shakily. It was the first time they'd said those three words to each other and with every heartbeat she worried it would be their last. She could feel her vision blur and Asha was saying something in the distance but she couldn’t make it out before everything tunneled and went dark.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
She was surrounded by white. Cold sterile white. Not Heaven and certainly not hell but somewhere. Max blinked several times trying to push past the heavy fog that bound her. She attempted to move her hand to rub the sleep out of her eyes and it was like moving in the water. She was sluggish. She couldn’t even really remember being that sluggish before. It was a surreal feeling.
“Hey there sleepy head,” a voice to her side whispered, the syllables being drawn out in her mind. Max turned her head slowly, surprised to see Alec’s cheesy smile staring back at her. His face was cut up and bruised but he was alive. That or they were both dead. As the ache in her body began to return to her though she thought it was safe to cross both dead off the list. Pain sucked.
“Where am I?”
“Terminal City med bay. Would have thought you recognized it by now, all the time we’ve spent here the last month,” Alec said, shifting forward and reaching to take her hand in his.
“The patches,” she whispered, breathing in sharply when she saw his amr. They were gone, all of them. His skin was perfectly unmarred.
“You saved us, Maxie. The anti-virus your blood created when you were exposed to the concentrated virus was exactly what we needed. They were able to create a synthetic anti-virus that’s being distributed to everyone who was exposed. You saved the world…or at least Seattle,” he smiled wryly. She smiled back but something felt wrong and slowly the smile faded.
“Logan?”
Alec’s smile faded as well at the question. His grip on her hand tightened again for a moment before his dropped his gaze to the floor.
“He didn’t make it, Max. I'm sorry.”
“The retrovirus?” Max asked feeling a lump forming in her throat.
“Yeah. He was exposed to White’s virus too. He didn’t stand a chance. Even the synthetic anti-virus had to be designed exactly to your DNA makeup. It would have killed him minutes after taking it.” Alec looked up at her, sorrowful eyes breaking down the last bit of resolve she had left. She sniffled, biting back the tears and looking away.
“Was it quick?”
“Yes.” He didn’t hesitate and she somehow knew he was lying but the lie was comforting. More comforting than she expected it to be.
“I want to go home, Alec,” she whispered, slowly pushing herself up. He stood, not questioning her, just helping her to her feet. She held her arm around his waist to keep herself steady as she slide down off the makeshift bed. The doctor would probably have her ass for moving around this early after waking up but she couldn’t stay another minute in the med bay. She needed to grieve, she needed her privacy. She was too exposed here.
“Let’s get you back home. You can rest up for a few days,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head. Gun shots echoed in the distance and Max looked up startled.
“We cured the virus, but the war’s still waging. Come on, you can get some sleep and then we can strategize. We’re soldiers after all, aren’t we?” he asked, his arm tightening around her shoulder as he helped her walk. He gave her a tight smile that was probably supposed to reassure her but all it did was remind her they were back to square one. They had so much ahead of them and she wasn’t sure she had the fight left in her.
“Soldiers,” Max nodded, putting on her emotional mask and heading out into the world again with Alec at her side. Whether she had the fight left or not didn’t matter. She would fake it if she had to because these were her people and they needed her. They were her family; they were her home. They had won the battle, but they were still fighting the war.
XOXOXOXOXOX
Fandom: Dark Angel
Paring: No real pairing. A little Max/Logan, and if you squint some Max/Alec, but that's it
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I do not own any of it. Though if I could have Alec I would be a happy girl. :P
Warning: not betaed.
Word Count: 2773
Author’s note: Okay I am just going to say this before you read because I had a really angry review after someone read this. I have NOTHING against Logan. I like the guy. I was going for a dramatic punch, nothing more. This is a bit angsty, so you are warned.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
“This is it,” Max whispered, her voice tired and uncertain as she stuffed the clip into her handgun. She'd never liked guns. They’d become a necessity in life recently though; one she loathed but lived with. Today there was a very real chance she wouldn’t make it through without one.
“Sure is, Maxie,” Alec replied, his voice just as quiet as he checked his own weapon. They stared at each other for a moment; neither knowing exactly what to say or how to say it. Max’s eyes plead for reassurance while Alec’s begged her not to ask. There was too much uncertainty, and too much already running on faith alone. They had asked each other to risk their lives and at the end of this all, there was no guarantee either would make it back alive. With no empty promises to give them false hope Max turned her focus back to the game plan.
“I saw two snipers on the roof, another three in the building across the street. White has his main army out front, but we have reports of the enemy attempting to out flank us. Won't be long before we're surrounded.” She licked her lips and looked at him, fully taking him in. The white spots were beginning to appear on his skin just like they had appeared on Gem’s and Original Cindy’s. They weren’t fully formed yet, just discolored patches really. That was good. He had two weeks if this didn’t work, maybe more. Enough time to get everyone who was still healthy out of the city.
The marks on his skin read like an ill omen of what was to come if she didn’t succeed. In a strange way it gave her the reassurance she needed. Reminded her she was doing the right thing.
“Max…” Alec’s voice trailed off, reaching out for her arm. They both stood there for a moment, silent and unmoving. He didn’t have the heart to finish his statement and so she spoke.
“I know,” she whispered. “I know. Let’s go, there isn’t much time.” She cocked her gun and started towards the side escape Joshua had found for them. There would be familaries near by no doubt but not nearly as many as waited for them at the front. Pulling back the wire gate, Alec crawled through first before turning and waiting for her. Once she was through they hid the entrance and scanned the area for enemies.
“Stick close to the buildings and the snipers won’t see you. Its dark enough that their eyes won’t pick you up out of the shadows if you’re careful,” Alec said, pointing silently where each one was holed up. “Once I draw the familiar’s away you break for the van. We’ve only got one shot at this. Mole is creating a distraction at the front gate but if they see you…just be careful.”
Max took a deep breath. If they saw her they would kill her on site. She threatened the Breeding Cult’s entire plans of world domination. Really, Max would have liked nothing more than to turn back and crawl into the safety of Terminal City, but these days safety was an illusion and if they didn’t finish this now then they would all be done for. It was only a matter of time.
“Be safe, Alec,” Max whispered, reaching out and squeezing her hand around his. It took every ounce of strength to finally pull away. She felt like a child being torn away from the safety of her family. As much as he liked pushing her buttons and annoying her, Alec was home, Alec was her family and she had to remind herself she was doing this for her family.
Silently she sidled around the side of the building while Alec stepped out from the shadows, gun in hand. The familiar’s spotted him and immediately pounced. He got in a few good punches and a couple shots off before being knocked to the ground. Max couldn’t watch anymore after that and with a deep breath she pressed forward. She prayed Alec would make it through the fight. All she had was her hope to help him.
Loud noises coming from the west told Max that Mole had put whatever plan he had into action. He and a few dozen others were some of the few Manticore soldiers still healthy enough to fight. Not even transgenics were immune to the deadly virus White had unleashed on Seattle. Some of the transhumans were fairing better against the viral onslaught but they were still getting sick and they were still dying. Humans, transhumans, transgenics; every race of man was slowly being wiped out to make way for the coming of White and his people and there was only one way to fix things. It had taken a long time to figure it out but now they had it. It was up to Max to put an end to this. She would be the one to save them all.
Her blood carried the necessary pathogens to create an anti-virus. If they could create the anti-virus they could heal the thousands of people dying in their homes and in the streets. Just getting infected wasn’t enough though. In order to produce an anti-virus strong enough to kill the virus in people with the advanced stages of White’s disease she would need a concentrated dose. People were depending on her to now. She just hoped she wouldn’t let them all down. There was no certainty how any of this would all turn out.
The van was only a few blocks away. Far enough away from the fighting to not draw the attention to the familiars but as close to TC as Logan could get them. It would have been too easy for her to make it there undetected of course. Max’s life could never be accused of being an easy one.
Two familiars with feral looking expressions jumped out at her from a darkened alley way. She didn’t have time for this. Familiars didn’t feel pain but Max knew they would feel a bullet between their eyes. Two shots and they were both on the ground. Of course firing a gun drew attention. It was safe to say every familiar within a mile's distance had heard her gun go off; she had to move quickly and only hope that Mole’s distraction was holding.
Max picked up her speed, blurring from shadow to shadow, hoping to provide some cover for herself as familiar’s drew closer. A bullet whizzed by her head, embedding itself in the wall next to her. She swallowed hard. The snipers had spotted her.
She could see the van ahead. Rusted, old, and completely inconspicuous, it was exactly as described. Logan waited for her in there; it wasn’t far now. The commotion coming from Terminal city was growing louder. The snipers must have alerted White because more and more familiars were heading her way, she could hear their footsteps coming at a rapid pace. It was time to run for it. She made a straight beeline for the van, not bothering to cover her tracks or hide in the shadows. Bullets flew by her but she was quicker than they were and managed to get through with only a graze on her arm.
When she reached the van she pounded on the door four times, paused once and pounded again. The sliding door flew open and Logan’s gloved hand reached out and pulled her inside. The door closed behind her and the van flew into drive, taking them far away from the centralized war zone.
“You have it?” Max asked; out of breathe more from fear than the actual run.
“Yeah, we do,” Logan nodded, looking towards Asha. The blonde woman reluctantly reached into her purse and pulled out the vial and syringe.
“Inject me,” Max said quickly. No one in the van moved.
“Max,” Asha started. Max shook her head. She didn’t want to hear it. They’d told her on the phone, she already knew how this would go down.
“Just do it.”
“We don’t even know for sure that it will work,” Logan said, swallowing the lump in his throat. She couldn’t handle this. For once being the strong one was just too much. She wished Logan would just take charge and do what needed to be done because she felt ready to crumble under the pressure.
“Please, Logan,” Max begged, rolling up her sleeve. He didn’t say anything; just read her eyes then nodded to Asha to hand him the supply. He held the vial up and stuck the long needle through the cork cap, drawing out the liquid inside until the syringe was full. He tapped it gently with his fingers to release any air bubbles before looking down at Max.
“You ready?”
She hesitated a moment. “Is it going to hurt?” she asked, her voice smaller than she would have wanted it. She usually dealt with pain pretty well but truth be told besides the siezures she'd never really been sick. She wasn't even sure what it would feel like.
“I don’t know,” Logan replied honestly. Max stared forward for a moment, taking a calming breath before nodding and holding out her arm to him again. He took her arm in his hands, the laytex sliding down her skin as he looked for a somewhere to insert the needle. He chose the crook of her elbow, pressing the sharp point through the translucent skin before releasing the liquid into the prominent blue vein. Max only made a small hissing noise when her skin was pierced before laying her head back against the side of the van and closing her eyes as the virus pumped its way through her blood stream.
“Once your body produces the anti-bodies we’ll be able to synthetically replicate them,” Logan said, watching her for reaction. Marks began to form on her skin at a rapid pace, white splottes growing paler by the second. It was like watching the progression of White's disease on fast forward. Once her body started fighting the virus then they would be able to draw her blood and create the cure to the virus they needed.
“How are you doing, Max?” Logan asked.
“Been better,” she replied softly, her breathing become restricted and hitching ever few second in pain as marks began to appear on her chest. After a few minutes the marks began to fade and her cheeks started to flush as her anti-bodies began to work, raising her body temperature to dangerous levels.
"Her body is fighting it," Asha said quickly, handing Logan a second syringe. Carefully Logan reached for Max's arm, taking it and picking a vein near where the first had been. Slowly he inserted the needle and began to withdrawl blood, filling three vials.
“I think this will be enough,” Logan said, handing the syringe and vials to Asha before moving towards Max whose eyes were getting droopy. Her skin was burning hot. He pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head as he did.
"Logan, no” Max said, trying to weakly push him away. The fever was taking its toll on her. "Logan the virus."
“I can’t take the anti-virus, Max. Your blood…it still has the retrovirus. I take it and I’m dead. I don’t take it and I’m dead. This is it,” he whispered. She felt her heart tighten at his words. He’d never said anything on the phone, never even mentioned he was infected with White’s virus. Now that she looked though she could see the pale patches on his skin that would likely form into the solid white spots the dotted every infected person. She wanted to cry but she was shaking so hard every sob was swallowed back down before it could reach the surface.
"No, Logan. There has to be another way," she said, shaking her head.
"There's no other way," he whispered, pulling his gloves off and interlacing his fingers with hers. While the white welts on her skin began to fade and pustual marks began to make their way along his skin, showcasing the presense of the retrovirus.
“I love you, Max,” Logan whispered, his breathing becoming shaky and broken as he laid his cheek against hers.
"Love you too, Logan,” Max replied just as shakily. It was the first time they'd said those three words to each other and with every heartbeat she worried it would be their last. She could feel her vision blur and Asha was saying something in the distance but she couldn’t make it out before everything tunneled and went dark.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
She was surrounded by white. Cold sterile white. Not Heaven and certainly not hell but somewhere. Max blinked several times trying to push past the heavy fog that bound her. She attempted to move her hand to rub the sleep out of her eyes and it was like moving in the water. She was sluggish. She couldn’t even really remember being that sluggish before. It was a surreal feeling.
“Hey there sleepy head,” a voice to her side whispered, the syllables being drawn out in her mind. Max turned her head slowly, surprised to see Alec’s cheesy smile staring back at her. His face was cut up and bruised but he was alive. That or they were both dead. As the ache in her body began to return to her though she thought it was safe to cross both dead off the list. Pain sucked.
“Where am I?”
“Terminal City med bay. Would have thought you recognized it by now, all the time we’ve spent here the last month,” Alec said, shifting forward and reaching to take her hand in his.
“The patches,” she whispered, breathing in sharply when she saw his amr. They were gone, all of them. His skin was perfectly unmarred.
“You saved us, Maxie. The anti-virus your blood created when you were exposed to the concentrated virus was exactly what we needed. They were able to create a synthetic anti-virus that’s being distributed to everyone who was exposed. You saved the world…or at least Seattle,” he smiled wryly. She smiled back but something felt wrong and slowly the smile faded.
“Logan?”
Alec’s smile faded as well at the question. His grip on her hand tightened again for a moment before his dropped his gaze to the floor.
“He didn’t make it, Max. I'm sorry.”
“The retrovirus?” Max asked feeling a lump forming in her throat.
“Yeah. He was exposed to White’s virus too. He didn’t stand a chance. Even the synthetic anti-virus had to be designed exactly to your DNA makeup. It would have killed him minutes after taking it.” Alec looked up at her, sorrowful eyes breaking down the last bit of resolve she had left. She sniffled, biting back the tears and looking away.
“Was it quick?”
“Yes.” He didn’t hesitate and she somehow knew he was lying but the lie was comforting. More comforting than she expected it to be.
“I want to go home, Alec,” she whispered, slowly pushing herself up. He stood, not questioning her, just helping her to her feet. She held her arm around his waist to keep herself steady as she slide down off the makeshift bed. The doctor would probably have her ass for moving around this early after waking up but she couldn’t stay another minute in the med bay. She needed to grieve, she needed her privacy. She was too exposed here.
“Let’s get you back home. You can rest up for a few days,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head. Gun shots echoed in the distance and Max looked up startled.
“We cured the virus, but the war’s still waging. Come on, you can get some sleep and then we can strategize. We’re soldiers after all, aren’t we?” he asked, his arm tightening around her shoulder as he helped her walk. He gave her a tight smile that was probably supposed to reassure her but all it did was remind her they were back to square one. They had so much ahead of them and she wasn’t sure she had the fight left in her.
“Soldiers,” Max nodded, putting on her emotional mask and heading out into the world again with Alec at her side. Whether she had the fight left or not didn’t matter. She would fake it if she had to because these were her people and they needed her. They were her family; they were her home. They had won the battle, but they were still fighting the war.
XOXOXOXOXOX
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