Fiction Anything To Zipper- Rune

Series Title: Anything To Zipper

Story Title: Rune

Author: Restive Nature

Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Angel. This show belongs to Fox and Cameron/ Eglee. No infringement is intended and this fiction is for reading pleasure only.

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Dark Angel

Type: massive friendship

Pairing: Max/ Alec

Summary: When they say solidarity, they really mean it.

Spoilers/ Time line: Post "Freak Nation".

Feedback: Always welcome.

Distribution: Ask first, please.

A/N: This one actually morphed only slightly from how I first envisioned it. Sometimes the writing takes off in a direction all it's own, but I like the way I have it. Hope you enjoy it too.

Rune

She had no clue that it was going on. She only knew that she would be looking for someone specific and sometimes the person was were where they were supposed to be and sometimes not. At first Max figured it for them taking a break or working on their assigned tasks. But when she noticed Joshua hurriedly rolling his sleeve down from where an interested Mole had been peering at his forearm, and then the slightly guilty looks on their faces, did Max start paying a little more attention.

When she clapped Nate on the shoulder after he'd shown her the completed med lists for supplies and the numbers were better than she had hoped for, and he winced, she started to wonder at that too. When she noticed Logan using an ancient photo copier and then hiding what he was working on from her, before loudly trying to greet her and redirect her attention away from herself, Max became truly suspicious. But, knowing how most of the transgenics and transhumans viewed her still, only really getting to know her in the last few weeks, as she had them, since this siege had started, she knew that they weren't just going to tell her what was going on.

When she was finally able to sneak up enough on one small group, what she heard disturbed and frightened her.

“... it's weird, but not that bad, I don't know what she was complaining about,' she overheard Bubba, one of the X6's snorting.

“I know what you mean,” Tack had replied, one of the transhumans that looked like a wild cat cross. “Have you seen Alec's back lately?”

“No, how far has it gotten?” Bubba grinned. Max, wondering what on earth the kid was referring to, had been able to use her Manticore given sight and focused in on Bubba's forearm and the sight made her mind whirl. There on the youth's arm, was a rune. Just like the ones that adorned her body, warning them of... something.

She turned away then. Questions rolled through her mind. They were all getting runes now? She wasn't the only one? At once the thought relieved her and dismayed her. She wasn't special now, being the only one and she didn't know if it was a relief or if it took something away from her. Logan had told her that she was the savior of the human race and she had felt that separation further from the rest of mankind, humans included in that, hearing that. She didn't want to be different. She never had. But at the same time, she had thought that she had found a place with her people. But now, knowing that they were hiding this from her, that she wasn't so sure about that place after all.

She had roamed aimlessly, ignoring everyone in her travels. She honestly wasn't sure how she was going to deal with this. She ended up, tucking herself away in one of the outer buildings to sit and think. She would return later. Of course she would, but for the time being, she needed to figure out how to handle whatever this new situation was going to be.

As she leaned her head against the crumbling wall, ignoring the small bits of dust and whatever else floating in the air, she tried to focus her thoughts. But it always seemed to come back down to a very few short thoughts. Namely, why hadn't Alec told her about this? How many runes had shown up on him? What did they say? And what would it mean for them? The questions rolled, like an assembly line, touched briefly before the next came and once through the set, they started all over again.

She couldn't have said how long she had sat there before she became aware of the buzzing noise and the low drone of voices. Perturbed at having her reverie disturbed, she clambered to her feet, intent on letting whomever it was get an earful. That was her mode of operation it seemed. Get frustrated about something that was out of her control and take it out verbally on whomever was closest.

The conversation grew louder, as did the buzzing sound, one that she vaguely thought she might know, with a few more clues about what it was. The drone was familiar to her senses. The conversation however, reached her first.

“... how Max is going to react to this?” someone was asking.

“I don't know,” a voice replied, one that she recognized. Alec! “But you've seen what this does to her. Maybe it's not the greatest idea, but she's gotta know we're behind her.”

“Yeah, but seriously Alec, angel wings?” the other voice chuckled. Max frowned as she crept closer to a small room in the back of the building.

“Well what the hell else represents a savior better than an angel?” Alec snorted back. “Give me another shot.”

“Here,” there was a pause in the buzzing and she could hear a slosh of liquid. “You know I'm almost done.”

“I know,” Alec grunted. “Still stings though.”

“Well fuck,” the other voice laughed. “I told you I was just an amateur at this shit.”

“Uh huh,” Alec agreed dryly. “Now, you're not making pornographic jokes back there are you. 'Cause that'd really piss her off.”

“Everything pisses Max off,” the other male voice snorted. Alec sighed. She had finally gotten close enough to peer in to the room where the door was slightly ajar. She could see Alec sitting backwards on a chair, his arms hanging over the front, with a tumbler of some liquid, probably alcoholic, clutched in one hand. His head was down and she could just see someone else's gloved hand touching at the skin of his upper back. And then, the very recognizable tattoo gun began to buzz again. The hands reached for a wet wipe to rub at the spot that had just been touched.

“So do you think this ink will last longer?” Alec muttered. “Your last batch was kinda iffy, huh?”

“I made some improvements,” the voice replied and Max began to wonder if it belonged to Kern, a friend of Joshua's. He looked mostly human, until you reached his eyes. And that was when the little bit of monkey that Manticore used became apparent. That and the tail was what really gave him away. She turned her attention back to Alec and could see that upon his shoulder blade closest to her, was a scrolling set of what appeared to be the runes decorating his body, in an abstract pattern. Recalling what the other, Kern? What he had said about it, she could almost see the angel wings, as he had called it.

“So when are you guys telling Max about this?” he asked of Alec and then smacked at the X5 when he shrugged. “Don't move dumb ass!” She had to bite her lip as someone other than she took the irascible male to task.

“We're still working on that,” Alec winced. “You know how she is about surprises. Don't want her thinking the wrong thing about this.”

“A bunch of you yahoos stormed my apartment one night after getting drunk on Mole's rotgut, demanding I give you tattoos of her runes to show your solidarity under her leadership,” Kern laughed. “She's either gonna go postal on your ass for doin' something stupid, or she's gonna get totally weepy and blubber over the idea. Probably both.”

“How many times have you met Max?” Alec demanded with a grunt. There was a pause and then Kern was laughing again.

“Yeah, she's gonna get postal,” he agreed. “Maybe if you all show her at the same time, she'll be overwhelmed enough with the numbers.”

“Pfft,” Alec raspberried into his glass. “She'll still blame me.”

“And is that why you kept coming back?” Kern teased. “Hoping to make a drunken idea into a grand enough gesture that she'd think twice about it.”

“Thus giving me enough time to reach minimum safe distance,” Alec concluded, chuckling and then grew quiet. “Nah, just, once I got the idea, it just seemed like the right thing to do.”

“All right,” Kern sighed. He was rubbing something over Alec's shoulders again. “That's it.”

Max could see Alec twisting, trying to peer over his shoulder. “Everything?” he asked. “You got it all?”

“Every last rune Cale provided me with and the wings are complete,” Kern affirmed. “The ink's been holding and this last batch should be healed in a day or two.”

“Awesome my man,” Alec sighed as Kern attached some gauze to the area he had just been working on. “Despite Mimi's complaining, you actually do good work.”

“That little brat is a wimp,” Kern snorted. “If it weren't for wanting to impress that X six that she has her eye on, she'd never have done it.”

“Yeah, I talked to her about that,” Alec sighed, his voice slightly muffled as he pulled his t-shirt over his head.

“The tat or the six?” Kern teased. They both laughed and Max felt a smile curve the corner of her lips.

“Both actually,” Alec admitted. His head popped free of the material and he moved to slide his arms through the t-shirt. “Maven is all but ready to go after Nikki, and he's getting a little annoyed with Mimi. So is Nikki. We don't need crap like that going on, especially right now. So I had a talk with her. She's on the right track now. Whether she likes it or not.”

“About supporting Max?” Kern wondered. And Max wondered the same thing herself.

“Nah, she always did,” Alec waved one hand dismissively. “She was just using this as a chance to impress Mave. But she believes in Max, just like the rest of us.”

“Cool,” Kern agreed. Max couldn't see him anymore, but it sounded like he was picking up, maybe putting things away. She realized that if she wanted to let them keep their little secret, she needed to go now. But... an idea was forming in her mind. She slipped away, on silent feet, planning how she would go about researching what she wanted. And she'd have to move fast. If she was going to be ready for their little surprise...

*****

The day had finally come. All of their tattoos had been healed up and were easily recognizable, Alec realized. A few of those that had joined in his little cause had been making hints that they wanted to do the big reveal. But as usual, Max had been a whirlwind of activity. Having seemed to caught a second wind, or whatever it was in the past few days, she had been cheery with everyone and all bolstering spirits and making happy little pep talky speeches. Whatever it was, Alec was relieved. Maybe catching her in this mood would be better in the long run when they finally revealed what she would most likely consider a stupid little stunt. A time and resource waster. With a sigh, he allowed the litany of possible complaints that she could come up with, to run through his mind. Better to be ready for anything.

Unfortunately, when he did catch a hold of her between runs to wherever she had deemed it necessary that she needed to go to through out the day, she wasn't in the mood to just go haring off with Alec. He would have been disappointed, but she had asked so nicely if what he needed could wait until that evening. Deciding quickly that it would give him a chance to make sure that everyone was in place for the reveal, he had agreed.

They made plans to meet down at the mess hall so they could eat while they “chatted”. That seemed good enough for Max and Alec figured, as he headed back to let the others know the plan, that feeding the savage beast might also help in the long run.

He was starting to get nervous about this. And it was starting to show.

Because it wasn't just a drunken idea. It was something that had been fulminating in his brain for a while. He had seen how disconnected Max was from everything. Not just the transgenics and their cause, but from Logan, her friends, all the things she liked to do. There wasn't a lot that anyone could do to remedy some of those things. They were all in the same boat as she as far as this siege putting a damper on their lives. But Alec had been thinking for a long time that Max needed to remember what she was fighting for. And if she believed that this cause didn't care for her too, because she was just as much a part of the family as the rest of the transgenics and transhumans.

Alec had been simply planning to get a simple tattoo from Kern. It was something Kern had found to keep himself busy. And his tattoos had the added benefit that they were permanently removable. Unlike the bar code tattoos that kept growing back, being a part of their genetic encoding as they were. That had been the plan, until he had stupidly blabbed his plan to a few others. And then they jumped on the bandwagon and within a few days, had become a whole wagon train.

Logan had heard and thought it was a nice gesture. He had even organized the pictures of the runes and what each one meant, or the closest approximation in the English language. In a smart move, he hadn't gotten one himself, because as he rightly put it, it wasn't his place. Alec secretly wondered if, with the accident that blew out Logan's spinal cord, the man was wary of more pain.

So he went about his day, alternately dreading Max's reaction and imagining scenarios where she might just, if he was lucky, laugh it off and tell them all to get their asses back to work.

They met that evening, just outside of head quarters and Alec could feel his nerves, tightly strung as they walked down to the mess hall where everyone was gathered. He was barely paying any attention to Max, until she smacked his bicep and he turned his head.

“Did you hear what I said?” she demanded, her face scrunched up, ready to launch into pissy miss.

“No, not really,” he admitted readily, giving her as cheeky a grin as he could muster. “Was thinking about dinner.”

“Don't know why you would be,” she chuckled and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “I really, really wish we'd been able to finish that raid on the chain warehouse. I'm pretty sure that the spices were the next aisle over.”

“And like I said, it could have been spices, could have been cleaning supplies,” Alec retorted. “wasn't gonna risk the team with incoming unfriendlies just so the meals might possibly taste a step above crap.”

“They're not crap,” Max sighed. “Just... really bland. And it was the right call. Of course it was. Wishful thinking I guess.”

“Yeah,” Alec smiled. It wasn't the first time she had admitted that he had tightened up his judgment calls, especially when deploying teams through the city of Seattle for their various missions. But he still liked hearing it. “I know all about that.”

“Oh really?” Max asked, her smile almost blinding as she turned her face up to him. “And what have you been wishing for? As if I couldn't guess!”

“Nah, no Max,” he smirked right back. “Whatever your little mind came up with, you'd be miles off.”

“Oh please, I could give you a laundry list of wishes and every single one of them wold be dead on or damn close.”

“Like what?” he demanded, loosening up quite a bit as their banter flowed as easily as their walk.

“Soap,” she groaned and shook her head as Alec chuckled. She wasn't wrong. “Number one request. Because that lye stuff the resource crew came up with is horrific.”

“Okay, granted,” Alec agreed immediately, because he knew she was speaking the truth. Both personally and because there had been a lot of requests, through everyone that had anything to do with acquisitions, which was a major part of his responsibilities that Max had assigned him. “What else?”

“Oh let's see,” Max mused. “That first one was kinda a gimme, wasn't it?”

“Pretty much,” he chuckled. And then waited, before teasing in a sing song voice. “What could Alec possibly want?”

“Oh, I know,” Max simpered back. “You're really, really hoping that whatever it is that you're planning on surprising me with tonight goes over well and that I won't end up tearing you a new one,” she laughed. Alec had the feeling that it wasn't because of the ridiculousness of the wish, but the automatic stunned look that he was sure covered his face.

“All right!” he growled, staring her down as she paused as well, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Who told?”

“You just did,” she smirked, poking her forefinger into his chest. “Seriously Alec, anyone could see it.”

“Ah crap,” he sighed, rolling his head on his neck, feeling the crackling in his spine from the tension he had been carrying over this.

“And I'm right, aren't I?” Max pressed, looking gleeful at having caught him out. But at least, at this point, she wasn't taking him to task for actually having planned to surprise her.

“Yeah,” he admitted, a little reluctantly still. Just because she knew there was a surprise, didn't guarantee that she wouldn't blow a gasket over it.

“So what is it?” she demanded, turning again to continue walking. “Did you go back and get me my spices?”

“Yeesh,” he grumbled. “What is it with you and those spices?”

“Well, it would be nice,” she scoffed. “And everyone would be grateful. But you didn't, huh?”

“No, I did not organize a raid on a warehouse that we already stole from just to get you some salt and pepper,” Alec grinned. He could see her rolling her eyes.

“It's more than salt and pepper,” she huffed. “I'm talking cinnamon, seasoning salt, garlic, onion, lemon pepper, oregano, parsley, rosemary-!”

“And thyme, which we didn't have,” Alec punned, pointing at his wrist where his watch resided. Max rolled her eyes and punched lightly at his forearm.

“That was bad,” she groaned.

“Okay yeah,” Alec agreed even as he chuckled under his breath. “But seriously, if you really want to, I'm sure we can find another place to hit up.”

“Well, don't you agree that everyone would enjoy that?” she demanded.

“Probably not as much as some real hooch and not the rotgut Tim and his gang are producing,” Alec nodded importantly. They both shuddered at the thought of those concoctions.

“Okay, so we know it's not spices,” Max continued her former guessing game. “Are you just trying to butter me up before you ask me for something huge?”

“If I wanted to butter you up,” Alec grinned widely, “I'd have much better ways than a crappy, bland, third rate meal at the same crappy, bland mess hall we always go to.”

“Okay, point taken.”

It wasn't too much longer after that, as Max continued to tease Alec with silly wishes, that they arrived at the mess hall. Alec was relieved to see that the majority of people that had gotten involved in his little scheme had gathered and that they were smart enough to be seated randomly, rather than all clustered together. Joshua, whom Max would have sat with, even if she had to wedge in, which she regularly did with the big guy, wasn't present. Alec suspected that he might be hiding back in the kitchen until the big reveal. Getting a tattoo for Joshua had been quie the novelty. As the very first trans anything created, he had no bar code such as the others did. They were paid barely any attention as they entered the building, but Max paused all the same. Alec watched as she hesitated just inside the door way, knuckles brushing over her sternum before she pressed her palm flat for just a second.

“Everything okay?” he asked quietly. She seemed startled when he spoke, making him frown. She lifted her chin and smiled benignly.

“Just fine,” she nodded once and then turned to the line to gather their trays and food. “Shall we?”

“Yeah, let's,” he agreed with a tight smile. He could see now as they got into the main hall properly that those idiots had made their groupings seem random, but really, there was very little seating left. About the only place that they could sit together was in the very center of the room and Alec mentally rolled his eyes as he followed their de facto leader. Of course, it would never creep into their minds that Max could be utterly contrary to their intentions and choose to sit by herself at one of the far tables.

But to his relief and the muted delight of those awaiting her, she headed straight to the center table which was pretty much empty, greeting those she knew fairly well on the way. Once she had taken her seat on the bench, Alec skirted the table so that he would be opposite of her. But as she ordered her meal from the tray to the table, he heard some not so sly grunts and coughs, letting him know that the rabble didn't want to wait any longer.

“Hey Max,” he began and then had to clear his throat. She didn't look up like he was expecting. Instead she continued unrolling her cutlery from the paper napkin.

“Yeah Alec?” she responded, but seemed more interested in the food. Or maybe just deciphering what exactly the offering was.

“Max, uh, I need to talk to you about something,” he tried again. Again she pretty much ignored looking at him.

“Go ahead,” she offered.

Alec sighed and wondered how to go about this. For all that it was an idea... he still wasn't too sure what her reaction would be and therefore didn't know what light to present this through. He heard another grunt and when his eyes slid in that direction, he saw Kern motioning with his hands. Alec just barely restrained his snort. Yeah, just take his shirt off. That wouldn't go over well in any situation and if he were to do that, Max would think he'd lost his mind.

But then, on the upside of that, she'd probably be too shocked at his behavior to get pissy about something as inconsequential as a tattoo. It was a mark of how nervous and unsure he was that Alec considered it. But first...

“Actually, I have something to show you,” he tried one more time. And this time, she lifted her face from where she had been using her fork to dig through the mound of casserole type offering on her dinner plate. The smile she had for him calmed him. She was still in a good mood. That was... ideal.

“You do?” she grinned and then made a show of setting her fork down. She gestured peaceably towards him and waited expectantly.

But now that her eyes were on him, Alec felt a lump in his throat and the nervousness was back. Deciding to just get it over with, he shed his coat and laid it on the bench next to him.

Swiveling around, throwing his leg over the bench, Alec reached for the hem of his soft T-shirt. He heard Max's slight gasp, but ignored it, concentrating instead on the nods of approval he was receiving from the rest of the room at large. When the shirt was off, he continued swinging around until his back was presented to her. Unable to look over his shoulder to see her reaction, he instead relied on the faces of those closest to him.

They were grinning like fools.

He heard a slight scrape and realized Max was pushing the bench seat back. And then, the next moment, he felt her soft fingers brushing over the healed art work decorating his back.

“Alec?” she whispered out and he finally turned his head so that he could see her. He was surprised to see her eyes glistening. “This is beautiful.”

“You like it?” he asked earnestly. Apparently unable to speak much herself, she traced the wings of the angel he had chosen, the feathery touch oddly appropriate.

“So much,” she whispered once again and Alec wasn't sure if she was commenting in response to his question or the sheer magnitude of the amount of work. But then he felt her finger probe a little more. “Are these... those are runes in the wings, aren't they?” she demanded, though her voice was still gentle. Alec nodded, feeling relief that he finally knew. “This is amazing Alec. But why couldn't you have shown me before?”

Alec didn't have to say a word as the rest of the gathered transgenics responded to her question as the rolled up sleeves, pulled aside necklines and as a whole, bared the tattoos that they had chosen. He watched with pleasure as Max's eyes grew large as she stared numbly around the room. There were a few choked sounds from her as they all waited with partially bated breath for the rest of her reaction. But as Alec stood to turn and see her fully, he noted that she was pressing at her chest again.

“Max?” he asked softly. Her head came up sharply and she smiled tremulously.

“There's a new rune,” she murmured, as surprisingly, she began to unbutton her blouse. Alec's eyes widened but she stopped after the third button and spread the fabric apart. He could see now why she had been rubbing at the spot. There, directly over her heart was a new symbol, but strangely it didn't match up with anything Alec recognized. He darted around the table to see more closely as the others pressed in as well.

“Why didn't you tell us?” he demanded, worriedly. They had all, Max included, thought that this crap was done with her. The message had been delivered.

“I researched it,” she continued, as if he hadn't spoken, her voice growing in volume. “It's not like the others. It's... the concept... it's love. Not just romantic, but brotherly, pure, fanatical, I don't know...”

“It's the love we have for her and she for us,” Kern finally spoke up, standing tall and beaming. Alec, hearing that, his mind began to whirl with suspicions.

“The love that's gonna sustain us through all this crap,” Max finished, smiling up at him. “What do you think?” she asked.

Alec, recognizing Kern's hand in this now, regarded her for the longest moment and saw finally, the same hesitation, fear of other's reactions that he had dealt with earlier. And just as she had accepted his, probably because Kern, the little rat, had spilled the beans, Alec had no trouble dealing with her little turnaround.

“It's beautiful,” he announced. Pleasure suffused him when Max threw her arms around his neck. His hands responded automatically, sliding around her waist to pull her close.

“Thank you for this Alec,” she whispered in his ear. “I don't know how you knew, but I really needed this.”

He smirked, just slightly, but had to ask. “Why're you so sure it was me?”

“Because it's always you Alec.”

AtZ- Touch