It's Christmas and we all deserve a nice fluffy ending, so here we go.

Chapter Eight

December (Continued)

Max smiled at the sight of the small tree Alec had cut down the day before and dragged into their cabin. He and Joshua had decorated it with bits of twine and berries and painted pine cones and such. Christmas was the next day and Joshua had been excited to celebrate now that Alec was awake.

Alec was still a bit weak, but he was recovering quickly. Manticore had made them to be nearly indestructible, and Alec's body was working overtime to repair the damage. Now that he was eating and his body had the necessary fuel, it would only be a few days before he was completely healed.

His body might be almost well, but his mind was still troubled. Since the night they'd talked, he'd been better than before they left Terminal City, but he wasn't quite his old self. She could only hope that the things he'd heard while they'd thought he was sleeping had helped, combined with Joshua's reassurances, as well as Max's.

If she had to guess, the most helpful thing had been her refusal to throw him out of their little camp. He'd awakened the next morning fully expecting her to toss him out on his ear. Max had simply told him that they needed to get him back in fighting shape and had given him more food. She'd then helped him up, and helped him dress.

She'd been used to dealing with a naked Alec while he was sleeping. A naked awake Alec had been a far more daunting task. He hadn't said a word, or done anything embarrassing, but Max wasn't blind and Alec was… well, Alec. He'd always radiated a certain appeal. Now that his eyes were open, and he was talking, it had returned full force.

Having him awake, though, was a gift in and of itself. She'd just missed him, and she felt almost giddy to have him by her side again. She'd been thinking long and hard about her feelings and reactions toward Alec, and had been ever since they'd arrived at Hood River. She'd come to a few conclusions, several of which had surprised her.

The door flew open on a gust of wind and Alec stomped inside. He was carrying an armful of wood and closed the door behind him. He kicked off his snow covered boots by the door and deposited the wood beside the fire, throwing another log on before shrugging out of the coat Max had found for him.

"Thanks," she said, scrunching up so he would have room to sit on the sofa with her. "Wasn't really looking forward to going out there."

He nodded and sat down. "Least I can do since you still won't take the bed."

"I'm not the one recovering from a traumatic brain injury."

He shrugged. "Still."

"How you feeling?" she asked.

"Fine. Little tired, but ok." He rubbed a hand over his face and hair brushing away a few remaining snowflakes. "Ran into Mole out there."

Max just raised her eyebrows in question.

"He wanted me to tell you that Logan called again. He was hoping to talk to you."

Max nodded. He'd called a couple of times now, and Max had been trying to decide whether or not to call him back. It just seemed like an exercise in futility. She and Logan were over. He was just prolonging the agony, not that there was much at this point. She'd made her decision and so had he. Her luck, while she was talking to him, someone in the background would casually mention that she was living with Alec now and Logan would get that look like someone had just kicked his dog.

Max looked over at Alec. Living with an awake Alec the last couple of days had been a pleasant surprise. He was excessively neat and had gone out of his way to make himself useful. She wondered how much of that was listening to her gripe about how useless he was while sleeping, or maybe it was his way of trying to make amends for what he'd done, not that he needed to. It might also be that he was still afraid she'd kick him out, not just of the cabin, but of their little enclave.

Truth was, she'd grown used to having him around, and now to having him close. She'd feel a bit lost if she had to stay there alone. She was grateful, however, that he could look after himself now. Cleaning and caring for a six foot coma patient was not something she ever wanted to do again.

"Max?" he prompted, and she realized she'd been quiet too long.

She shrugged. "Got nothing to say to him."

He eyed her warily. "But… the cure. He would have had the last shot by now. They would have checked the titers. He's probably calling to say it worked."

"Doesn't matter anymore. I mean… if we cross paths it'll be nice not to kill him and all, but…" She shrugged again. "He's in Toronto and I'm here, so, no point really."

"I-"

"If you're about to say what you did was for nothing, I'm gonna hit you."

He looked shocked. "What?"

"The cure. What you did. It wasn't for nothing."

"But-"

"I know what you did and what it's cost you," she said straightly. "And I'm… grateful."

"How can you say that?" he murmured. "I saw your face, Max."

"When?"

"When I asked if you would have killed him." He pressed his lips together. "You looked… disgusted."

Max didn't give him a flippant answer. This was too important. His future, his sanity, might depend on it.

"You're right," she finally said. "I can't say I would have been able to kill him. Doing that, taking a life, it's not an easy thing and it shouldn't be. I still remember the face of the first guy we killed when I was a kid." She took a calming breath as the images from that day washed over her. "Those kinds of things should be imprinted in our memory so it's never easy to off somebody. When I got out, I made rules for myself just like you did. I still refuse to carry a gun. It's one of my rules."

"And you won't break yours," he said, implying he had.

She continued as if he hadn't interrupted. "If the doc you met had given me that price, I'd have probably walked away. I know if it was just for the cure, I couldn't have done it. I couldn't kill someone just so I could touch Logan."

Alec opened his mouth to say something, but Max stopped him by taking his hand. Over the past weeks, she'd become very used to touching him and there was no reticence now.

"And even if I'd known that guy was a rapist piece of garbage, I don't know if I could have done it. I probably would have tried threatening him, or getting him fired or arrested for something else."

"I know you wouldn't have done it, Max. I know," he said, and he looked lower than a snake's belly. His hand tightened on hers as if afraid she would pull away.

"Tell me this," she said. "You were gone over two weeks. It only took a few minutes to kill him. What were you doing the rest of the time?"

"Working on my tan," he said off-handedly. "It was California."

"You were trying to work something out, weren't you?"

He sighed. "Yeah. I tried to talk to the doctor. When that didn't work, I tried…" He trailed off and just shrugged. "Nothing worked. I found the reports about the other girls, but nothing did any good. I finally went to see the professor and he…" Alec grimaced. "Max, our handlers at Manticore, the things they did, that they made us do… The professor was like that. There was no remorse. It was his right to do and take what he wanted. He pulled out his checkbook like it was business as usual to pay people to look the other way."

Max scooted closer. "Alec, just because I couldn't do it, doesn't mean it didn't need to be done. I'm sorry it had to be you, but I'm not sorry it happened."

"I just..." He glanced at her, his brows furrowed. "My conscience, if I even have one, is so messed up. Sometimes I don't know right and wrong. I just don't have a good handle on it. Manticore beat blind obedience into us, and it's hard for me to tell sometimes. I… I knew you would have found another way, but I just couldn't find one and I couldn't leave that son of a bitch there to do it again and-"

Max stopped him with a kiss.

When she pulled back, Alec sat there stunned. "What was that for?" he whispered.

"Yes, you're a hot mess," she answered, "but you did good. Stop worrying that you messed this one up."

Alec didn't move, simply looked at her, as if trying to decide what to make of her. Slowly, very slowly, a grin began to spread across his lips. "You think I'm hot?"

"I just kissed you, didn't I?" She cocked her head to the side. "And I think I said hot mess. There is a difference."

A frown appeared. "But Logan-"

"Left," she said, cutting him off. "And you came back to me, even when you thought I'd kick your ass for messing up. Which you didn't. Kinda says something, don't you think?"

"You were supposed to have the cure for Christmas."

"It's the thought that counts?" She raised her eyebrows.

"I thought you were supposed to be with Logan."

Max stood up. She was tired of sleeping on the sofa. She was still holding Alec's hand and she tugged on it until he too stood up.

She nudged him toward the bed.

He raised an eyebrow. "Little early isn't it?"

"Wasn't planning on sleeping," she replied archly.

"Max?"

"I've had a lot of time to think while you were out," she said. "I thought about why I was so desperate to help you and how much I missed you and I decided I didn't want that to happen again."

"You missed me?" His expression headed toward smug.

She smacked a hand against his chest. "How many times did I tell you that?"

"I guess I... I was having trouble hearing what you were saying," he admitted.

"Then listen to me now. We're good, you and me. You did good. I'm not mad. There's nothing to be mad about. You got it?"

"Got it," he said with a nod, and for the first time she believed him. His stance was relaxed and he looked lighter, easier than he had in months.

"About time," she muttered under her breath.

"So tell me what else you decided while you were doing all this thinking." He stepped closer to her, and put his hands on her hips. They were warm and she could feel each individual finger as he slid his hands beneath the hem of her sweater to settle against her bare skin. "Because while I was a captive audience, I had a lot of time to think, too."

"Yeah?"

"Not much else to do but listen. So what did you decide?"

"I decided all this time I was looking for the cure, I was missing what was right in front of me. I was waiting for your Christmas gift to be finished, but I was ignoring the important part."

"What part?" He frowned in confusion.

"It's Christmas, Alec. It's not the gift that's important. It's the giver."

"Max," he said, his tone hushed, "I just wanted you to be happy."

"You're awake. I am happy." She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him close. She'd been separated from Logan for years. She was never going to keep someone she cared about at arm's length again. Not if she could help it.

He looked down at her, his face so close Max could see the freckles across the bridge of his nose and the flecks in his green eyes. "You want to know what I decided while I was listening to you?" he asked.

"What?"

"Well, a couple of things, really."

"The bed's waiting, Alec."

"Bossy." He grinned. "One, I decided that making me listen to your sponge baths was next to torture."

Max turned pink remembering all the things she'd done and said. She had a feeling Alec would be bringing up little tidbits of her ramblings for years to come.

"Careful, buddy. I gave you plenty of baths. You should appreciate that, at least."

"Oh, I remember," he said, his mouth quirking up on one side. "I remember a few choice comments as well."

"Hey," she shrugged, going for nonchalant, "I got eyes. I was just tellin' it like it is."

He let out a small chuff of a laugh, then his expression became more serious. "The second thing I decided was that if I lived, I liked being around you, and I was going to stay close, even if you wanted me to leave. I'd have found a cabin or built one or something."

"You had to have heard me and Joshua say over and over that we didn't blame you."

"I didn't believe it," he said quietly. "I couldn't. I thought you were just saying it because you thought I was going to die."

"You came close," she whispered. She gave in to the temptation and rested her head against his chest. She'd lain awake so many nights with her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Now that she knew he'd been awake, she knew he'd remember that as well.

Alec wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "Thank you, Max."

She didn't know if he was thanking her for taking care of him, or talking to him to keep him going, or for convincing him that what he did was ok. Maybe it was all three. It didn't really matter, though. She wasn't going to let go of him. During the past months, she'd said over and over that Alec was too important, and it had finally dawned on her, that what she'd meant was that Alec was too important to her. She'd been waiting for the cure, and it didn't even matter.

Max pulled back slightly, and looked up. Alec looked down at her, his mouth a hairsbreadth from hers. "Merry Christmas, Alec."

Alec closed the distance and kissed her. It began as a tentative exploration, waiting to see if she would turn him away. When she didn't, he clasped her tightly, and kissed her until she was breathless.

"Merry Christmas, Maxie."

Thank you for each and every kind word and review. I never know if I'll write another DA story and the reviews are the only thing that keep me going. Hope you enjoyed this one and Merry Christmas!