Title : A Soldiers Point Of View

Author : Melissa, aka CherryWolf713

Disclaimer : Trust me, if I owned DA, there woulda been a 3rd season and Max woulda gotten with Alec; since this didn't happen, we can all assume it ain't mine.

Author's Note : Ok, so...this didn't really end the way I had wanted it to - my fingers took over and I kinda went down a completely different road than planned...But, anywho, here it is, so please enjoy :) Also, I beta'd it myself so if I missed anything, I sorry!

By the time Dalton heard the shot he was all alone.

He didn't know if the X5's had better hearing than the X6's, or maybe the older male had just had more time to hone his 'senses' and heard the tell-tell click of gun being cocked; or maybe even, one some other subconscious level, he was constantly aware of her and just knew something was wrong.

Cause Dalton hadn't even seen Alec blur; just one second he was there then suddenly was gone.

And then the first shot rung out from another room of the abandoned warehouse.

By the time the younger blonde had reached the other room the fight was raging on, both males engaged in a deadly battle.

White, Dalton realized, his muscles tensing.

Then he saw the dark halo of hair adorning the fallen female.

It was supposed to have been a routine supply run. Terminal City was low on rations, their ever-expanding numbers quickly going through the small amount of food that had been found. The new 'bigwigs' of TC were worried about how much longer they could survive like this, living off of scraps; all agreed something needed to be done, and done soon. So when Alec announced he knew of a way, everyone was all ears, even their ever-cautious CO.

The heist was fairly easy : intercept the delivery truck; so easy that, when Dalton had practically begged to come along, even if only to watch and learn, Alec had sighed deeply but nodded, saying he would handle Max. Even with the undertrained X6 tagging along, everything had gone off without a hitch. The large gray supply van they had 'requsistioned' a few weeks back for just an occasion like this was parked outside, filled to the brim with boxes of food, save for a few feet in the back that Dalton was to be occupying on the trip home.

Then Luke had buzzed Alec, saying that himself and Dix had intercepted some police chatter about a group of young kids, more than likely X7 or X8's, holed up in a warehouse only a sector over. Max hadn't even blinked an eye as she swerved suddenly, heading back toward the trapped the X's. Alec was muttering something about strapping some of the kids on the roof if need be as they spied their destination with heightened senses.

The argument started suddenly. Alec grabbed Max as she climbed out of the drivers seat, his heated words telling her to stay put, something didn't seem right. But she was insistant, not willing to let the chance of any transgenics getting caught if they could do something about it. Harsh words were thrown back and forth by both parties until Alec finally growled and stalked toward the warehouse, leaving Max and Dalton to follow behind, all three slipping into the darkness.

By the time Dalton and Alec had regrouped in the main room, the use of hand signals was unneccasary, the place seemed empty.

"Maybe we were too late," Dalton had stated.

Alec just sighed. "Maybe..." Looking around, he asked finally, his voice more rigid, "where's our fearless leader?"

Dalton had pointed to his right, opening his mouth to say that Max had went that way, but he was speaking to thin air.

The shot rung out from the left.

His spirited CO was laying flat on her back, eyes closed. By the time he dropped to his knees the blood was starting to pool around her hips, making Dalton freeze in fear. It wasn't until he felt the wet sickness through his jeans that he snapped to, placing an open palm over Max's stomach, trying to stop the flow of blood. His limber fingers felt for a pulse, finding a small and uneven one, but one none the less.

The second shot and familiar smell of gunpowder wrenched Max's eyes open suddenly but Dalton was unaware, having craned his neck to make sure his companion was unharmed. The deadly dance just a few feet to his back was entrancing, drawing him in and mesmerizing him. Transgenic eyes took in the fierceness of Terminal City's SIC as he tore into the Goverment Agent slash Familiar, his movements not slowing, allowing Dalton to sigh deeply, seeing the bullet had missed Alec.

A third shot ended it all.

To human eyes, it would just seem like the darker haired male was suddenly knocked down; they wouldn't notice the blood or distruction for a few moments. They wouldn't have seen the aggressive X5 suddenly wrench the gun away, turning the metal piece around with overly-practiced moves, pressing the cold barrel against the Agents forehead.

A human wouldn't have noticed the steady finger pull the trigger, not hesitating; they wouldn't have seen the calm cold radiating through hazel eyes, the lashes not even flickering when the bullet tore between his oppenents eyes, the force doing enough damage to make the face unrecognizable.

A normal human would not have seen a man's head nearly explode.

Alec stood tall for a mere second, his arm still raised forward, the gun's barrel smoking omioniously. Then he was in front of Dalton, his form dropping over Max's body from her other side. Everything seemed to move in slow-motion as Max slowly turned her head, looking up at the older male, who had shoved Dalton's hands away as he checked the female out himself.

"...and to be ready."

Coming to, Dalton realized too late that Alec had been talking, his voice tense as he thrust something small and silver outward. Numbly he took the offered object, forcing his mind to ignore the smearing red sliding sickly over the cell. The numbers were unreadable by the time his bloody fingers had dialed the main line into TC, not needing to hear all of his SIC orders to know what to do.

Dalton didn't pause to give a greeting to Dix. "We took some fire; one-" Dalton took in the revelation in front of him and amended, "two shots, be ready." Then he hung up the phone, not bothering to hand it back to Alec. "You've been shot."

The older transgenic didn't even look downward at his leg. "It's just a graze."

"Alec..." Max's faint voice rose up from in between them.

"It's gonna be ok, you're gonna be ok..."

Dalton leaned back slightly, hearing the softening tone in Alec's voice, brought on by Max's small, quivering voice. He swallowed deeply and looked around, checking to make sure no one else was about to burst in, guns raised and ready to take them out.

"Get the van in here, now," Alec suddenly ordered, his voice rigid and hard as he eyes never left his Max's prone form.

He blurred away from his CO's side, reaching the vehicle in record time. He didn't hesitate to rip the panel out from under the wheel, having the van sputtering to life before anyone could have flicked an eyelash. Dalton could feel Alec's cell vibrating in his pocket but ignored it in favor of spinning the large van around, heading through the gravel and up to the front of the dull building. It took less than a second for the teenager to assess the situation and press down harder on the accellarator, aiming the bumper for the large glass window ranging from the floor to the ceiling.

The glass was still settling when Dalton jumped out, burning rubber assaulting his nose, and threw open the sliding door, having seen Alec had been waiting nearby, Max's lithe body cradled in his arms. Manticore had taught all of it's soldiers early on how to maneuver and operate a vehicle, having them all behind the wheel by the age of 8 at the latest, so it was nothing for Dalton to expertly spin the van around once more, taking off like a bat outta hell as Alec arranged Max in the small space behind him.

"Alec-"

"I told you to save your strength," he ordered, cutting of Max's soft words.

"I sh-should have listened to you..."

"Now you realize that," Alec muttered, his voice dark. "And it only took a bullet to the gut to make you see."

Cutting a sharp right, Dalton slid his hand across the slippery wheel, trying to ignore just what exactly was coating the wheel, the blood still clinging to his wiry hands. He winced in apology as Max grunted in pain, her hiss floating up over his shoulder. He glanced up quickly in the rearview mirror and watched as Alec paled slightly more, pulling her chest up closer to his to absorb some of the shock.

"Alec..." Max whimpered slightly, causing Alec to try and shush her but she plowed on. "Tell Josh to-"

Dalton could hear the hiss crawl out of the older male's chest, see the blind fury suddenly ooze from his eyes in the mirror, and felt his own chest tighten, knowing what Max was about to try and do.

"be free-"

"Don't Max, don't you dare!" Alec ordered her. "You're going to be fine - you can tell him yourself."

Even in her weakened state Max scoffed slightly. "Too much blood..."

"You're going to be fine," Alec growled again , his voice barely recongizable. "We can fix this."

"Tell Cindy she-she was my sister," Max started again, not caring as Alec was shaking his head in refusal. "And tell...tell Sketch-"

"Stop it."

"Tell him I believe in him," Max finished. "Promise me, Alec."

"No. No, cause you're telling them yourself," he amended, his voice straining to stay light. "This is ridiculious, I said you're going to be fine; it's just a flesh wound. Right, Dalton?"

Haunted hazel eyes bore into the mirror, a complete contrast to the relaxed, joking face. Dalton swallowed and ran a hand through his hair before looking away, his own eyes clouded. "Baby stuff."

"See?" Alec said to Max, reaching up to place a stray hair back behind her ear.

"Lairs...both you," she accused. "Promise...Alec."

He shook his head once more. "No...I won't."

"Alec...I want you...to know that-"

"Stop it!" Alec suddenly roared, causing Dalton to tighten to his shoulder blades and lock his teeth. His eyes never strayed from the road, feeling like an outsider spying in on a very intimate and private moment. The salty smell of tears started to fill the cramped interior of the van as he cut another sharp turn, his gut wrenching as Alec's voice deepened with emotion.

"You're not leaving me, Maxie; I refuse to let it happen, I can't."

"I'm sorry..." Max breathed out, the drain on her body becoming more clear.

"Shit..." Dalton whispered, seeing the upcoming stopped cars. He could hear Alec's hitched breathing as Max lost conciousness in the back and balked at breaking up the moment but knew they had a serious situation coming up. "Alec..."

"Come on, stay with me Max!" Alec ignored his younger companion, focused on rousing Max awake. "We're almost there, Maxie, wake up!"

"Alec!" Dalton shouted, starting to panic as the cars loomed closer.

"What?!"

"Sector stop," he informed him, chancing a look into the back finally.

"Run it." When Dalton didn't start to accelarate fast enough for the X5's taste, Alec snarled out, "I said do it soldier, now!"

"Yes sir," Dalton snapped back automatically, his foot shoving the gas peddle to the floor. The frightening tone ressuracted something in the younger X6, brought forth the steel and hardened exterior Manticore had instilled in them for situations such as these, leaving no room for argument or thoughts; he was there for one reason and one reason alone, to follow orders.

The lowered barrier smacked off the front of the large van as it flew past the stopped cars and shocked sector cops, reaching too late for their standard-issue weapons to do much damage besides a few fleeting bullet holes in the rear.

"Take us straight to the Med Bay," Alec ordered, his voice hard as ice, his own Manticore mask having slid into place.

Dalton didn't pause as he should when arriving near the western fence of Terminal City, the usual protocol thrown out the window by his superior officer. The chainlink fence screeched as he rammed through it, the nearly-hidden transgenics in charge of guarding the perimitar of TC having not been given enough warning to get the gate all the way open. He continued to barrel through the cluttered and small streets, not pulling his foot up until the make-shift hospital's doors where in his view.

"What the hell were you thinking-"

Mole's enraged voice broke through Dalton's haze as he climbed out of the drivers seat, his glare and appearance stopping the transhuman's rant almost immediatly. The van was instantly surrounded by a crowd and he ignored them too, throwing open the back door. The sight of Alec hunched over Max's still form chinked at Dalton's mask and he stepped back, giving the stone-faced SIC room to climb out.

"Fuck...We need some help out here!"

Mole's gruff curse seemed to send all the stunned bystanders into action and suddenly a flurry of voices and hands surged forward, trying to take Max out of Alec's grasp but he clung her closer, refusing to hand her over.

"Alec-" Stat, an older X5 highly trained in field medicine had stepped out of the building, hearing the commotion and was trying to shift Max into his own arms, but he froze instantly when the rumble started to build from deep within Alec's chest. The X5 growled in warning at the other male, starting to stand on his own, intent on carring Max in himself but he faltered slightly, his leg starting to give out. Mole cursed again, spotting the bullet wound on Alec own leg.

No one else dared to step forward at first, Alec's Alpha status ringing just as clear to everyone hear now as it had to Dalton in the car a few short minutes ago. But then a slightly hairy hand reached out and, to everyone's surprise, Alec released his grip. Something in the back of Dalton's head tickled in recognization of Alec's behavior and he blinked a few times, looking up to see the same look of knowledge crossing Mole's face.

"I help Little Fella," Joshua announced, taking Max's body and, cradling her to his own chest, turned and started into the Med Bay. Alec didn't pause to address Stat, who tried to look at his leg, and hovered after Joshua, following him inside, Mole right on their heels also. Dalton nearly ran over another body as it rushed to enter the building, just then noticing the Ordinary, Logan Cale, was among the crowd that had gathered around the van.

"Good Lord..." Izzy, the resident Doctor breathed as the group trudged in, blood covering three of the six forms before her. Like outside, the air seemed to crackle then all hell broke loose, transgenics barking orders as Max was laid gently on a bed by Joshua. Alec had stormed into the room also, refusing to leave her side as Izzy ordered everyone out.

Joshua had backed back out into the hallway now and the door was slammed shut, the noise from the room still easily hearable to every transgenic and transhuman nearby. But the wooden barrier seemed to crumble Dalton's last semebalance of control. He felt his back hit the wall, his knees bending till he was seated on the floor, staring limply at his bloody hands.

At Max's blood on his hands.

"What the hell happened?" Mole demanded, his gruff and roughened voice turned onto the X6. "Dix says he gets some call but it's nothing but fuckin' static!"

"It was a trap..."

Was it really just a little while ago that Alec had suggested that very fact, trying to convience Max to not enter the warehouse?

Mole cursed again, starting to pace in aggrivation. "White?"

Dalton nodded in agreement, shutting his eyes as he pictured the Familiar's last few seconds of life.

"He'll be looking for-"

"He's Dead." Dalton's soft words cut off Logan's sentence, making the other 3 bodies in the hallway turn his way once more.

"He's a lot stronger than you think," Logan tried once more, his voice gentle. "He could still be alive..." Dalton snapped his head up, his eyes boring into the Ordinary's.

"He's dead."

The coldness and finality ringing in the younger boys voice stopped any further arguments.

"About fucking damn time," Mole sneered before adding in a hard voice, "I'll send a retrival team for the body."

Logan simply looked down and Joshua nodded in agreement, turning to look through the window into the room where Max's body was laying. Dalton hung his head again, his eyes once more being drawn to the now-drying blood coating his hands.

Joshua's whimper was the first sign that something was going wrong in the other room. Logan snapped his head up and took a few steps off of the wall as loud shouting suddenly filled the once silent hallway. Dalton screwed his eyes shut as Alec's voice rung out, his hands clenching into fists.

"I said bring her back!" Alec roared, his voice a deep animalistic growl.

"We're trying!" There was a loud crash of something hitting glass and Izzy was screaming now, ordering someone to get Alec out of the room. Mole sighed then, storming into the room, his face grim as he dragged a struggling Alec out into the hallway.

Logan stepped back warily, his human instincts telling him to get as far away from the angered X5 as possible. It wasn't until Joshua reached out a placed a hand on the dark-blonde's shoulder that he calmed somewhat, shoving away from Mole with an angry grunt, finding the oppisit wall across from Dalton to stalk to, slamming his fist through the drywall. Dalton found himself flinching and scoffed at himself, feeling useless.

With a firm hand, Joshua grabbed Alex's wrist and pulled the fist out of the wall, not letting go as Alec tried to yank it out of the larger man's grasp. "You not helping Max," he insisted. "Max is strong, she will be ok. She would want you to take care of you." Looking down at his leg, Joshua offered, "Joshua look at your leg."

Alec didn't acknowledge his friend's help, just stared at the wall for a few moments before saying, his voice devoid of any emotions now, "I need to tell you something Joshua..."

"No..." Alec was the only one who didn't turn to Dalton when he spoke up, but he ignored them all, focusing on the tensing back of his semi-commanding officer. "You didn't promise," he spat out, anger suddenly fueling his heart as he stood up. Alec spun suddenly, his intense eyes daring Dalton to continue.

"You refused," Dalton continued, not backing down now, even though his heart was hammering in his chest. All his feline instincts were telling him to withdraw, that it was wrong to stand up to an Alpha like this but his human instincts, the ones telling him that the older man who had taken him under his wing was hurting, they were telling him to barge on. "Don't say another word, Soldier."

Dalton swallowed as Alec continued to glare him down, his hazel eyes devoid of anything. But then the corner of his lip twitched slightly, the look foreign and unnatural on the cold face. "Max woulda been proud."

"Max will be proud."

Alec nodded once and was about to say something back when the door behind them suddenly opened and Dalton spun around to see Izzy standing there, her face weary but hopefully.

"We got her back, but she's lost a lot of blood." The Doctors face moved toward the smaller boy. "Dalton-"

Almost as if a switch had been flipped, the slight smirk fell from Alec's face, another seamless growl coming from his chest. Dalton, who had started to move upon hearing his name, froze, his feline instincts ruling this time. He knew without looking that every other transgenic in the vincinity had also froze, their head bowed slightly like his.

Izzy, taking a deep calming breath, kept her voice neutral as she spoke to Alec, looking up from under her lashes, "Alec, you've been shot...you can't give her blood right now - you'll be too weak. Please let Dalton-" She cut off her plea and closed her eyes when Alec growled again, already moving to pull his sleeve up.

Don't look at him, Dalton's inner animal-side told himself, locking his eyes on the far wall. But he had let Joshua carry Max when he wouldn't let anyone else. Almost as if hearing his thoughts, Izzy glanced at the large transhuman at the same time as Dalton.

"What about Joshua then, huh?"

Alec didn't answer the doc, just stalked past her into the room, but Joshua followed him, obviously hearing a silent consent from his friend.

Izzy nodded wearily, after a beat. "I'll fix you leg up in here I guess..."

Then the door was shut once more. Dalton was rasing his head just as Mole was too, sending the lizard-man a questioning look. Mole, sighing in annoyance, just huffed out, "guess dog-boy ain't a threat."

"And I am?" Dalton asked, his voice wavering slightly, still some-what unnerved by the blantant territorial display.

Mole told him, "nothing personal, Kid," before grinding his teeth. "I need a smoke..."

When Logan's voice filled the silent hallway, Dalton almost jumped, having forgotten the human was still there.

"Should we let Alec back in there?"

Mole's voice was dripping with sarcasm as he turned on the Ordinary. "Why don't you go in there and try to make him leave..."

Dalton knew the lizard-man was not in any way, shape, or form friends with the human - in fact it had been pointed out on numerous occasions that Mole down righted detested the frail, as he had begun to call him - but sending Logan into the room would end in a brutal fight, and Dalton was 100 percent sure that not an ounce of blood spilled would be Alec's.

Logan though, for not being a transgenic, seemed to sense Alec's unstable condition and hesitated.

"That's what I thought," Mole grumbled before turning back to Dalton. "Full report, now."

Dalton swallowed then nodded, leaning back against the wall before looking down, regaining his bearings after everything that had happened. A split second later he looked back up, straightening his back slightly, old habits dying hard, easily slipping back into his soldier facade.

"The heist was successful," he informed his superior, using the bland military voice Manticore had taught him, disconnecting himself from the information he was relaying. "We arrived at the warehouse no less than 3 minutes after the call. Risk was discussed but Max accessed it was worth the damage and we continued ahead with the rescue."

"Worth it? She nearly died," Logan pointed out then, his voice raising toward the end of his outburst. "She still could!"

"And the transgenics?" Mole asked, ignoring Logan all together.

"There weren't any. We split up and searched the warehouse from top to bottom." Dalton briefly flashed back to Max giving them to the signal to go their separate ways, how Alec had locked his jaw but said nothing, listening to his CO. "Alec didn't think it was practical to split up, but we did none the less. Him and I arrived back to point before Max did, but he took off slightly right after. Then I heard a gun go off."

"He took off?" Logan questioned.

"To go help Max," Dalton explained.

Mole threw a pointed look at the human for stepping into the interigation but Logan ignored it, adding, "he knew she was in trouble before he heard the gun?"

Dalton shrugged, thinking back onto Alec's recent behavior, his actions toward Max. "I assume he sensed she was in trouble. It's not uncommon." He looked up at Mole, finishing the sentence with his eyes.

He's chosen Max...

Mole, for his part, just snorted and rolled his eyes. "It's about damn time..."

"Max does seem to have a sixth sense for when Alec has made trouble for himself," Logan muttered, oblivious to what he was confirming.

"And our favorite looney-cult bastards' ass?" Mole asked finally.

Dalton looked down then, running his tongue over the roof of his mouth a few times as he recalled the scene that laid before him when he blurred into the side room of the warehouse.

"By the time I arrived Max was down and Alec was taking on White. I was attempting to stop the blood flow when I heard a second shot, resulting in Alec's right leg getting hit," his bland, detached voice wavered, the sheer shock at even finding out that Alec had been hit still fresh. "I thought White had missed his target, but I was mistaken, but I was not aware of this till after; he showed no signs of being wounded during battle."

Dalton opened his mouth and took in a deep breath, his memories of the fight drawing him in just like it had before. "I've never seen anything like it before, like him before. The way he moved, the aggression and fulidedness in his fighting...White never stood a chance."

There a was long lull of silence before Logan's all-too-casual voice stated, "Alec lost control."

Dalton blinked his eyes, trying to bring himself back to the present. "No," he said, shaking his head in disbelief, recalling Alec's steady hand as he pulled the trigger, the clear focus in his eyes. "No, he was in perfect, complete control."

"White?" Mole's gruff voice questioned.

"Bullet between the eyes, point blank," Dalton supplied, his voice bland.

Mole whistled low and long. "That's gonna make for a fun retrival mission..."

"That's in control?" Logan demanded, his voice loud. "Shooting him execution style?"

"Better him than one of our own," Mole snarled, turning toward the unwanted Ordinary. "I'd have done it on day one if Princess in there had let me."

"Max won't see it that way," Logan argued. "She knows how much attention this is going to cause. She'll be furious with him."

"Alec saved her life, he saved all of our lives," Dalton pointed out, his voice taking on an edge. "We wouldn't have gotten out of there any other way."

But Logan was shaking his head. "But Max won't-"

"Queen Bitch ain't gonna say shit," Mole declared, taking a few steps toward Logan. "Alec will handle it, so don't worry your little under-developed head over things that don't concern you."

Dalton arched an eyebrow as the human seemed to puff himself up, clearly stupid enough to think he was able to hold his own among the transgenics. "If it concerns Max, it concerns me."

Mole just smirked, pulling out a cigar from his breast pocket before placing it in his mouth, not lighting it but rolling it among his thin lips. "Not for much longer. Now get out of my city before I get someone in here to accompany you..."

Logan locked his jaw but undoubtedly heard the thinly veiled threat and choose, smartly, not to respond to Mole. Turning to Dalton, he said, his voice clipped, "Please let Max know I'll be in touch." Then he spun and walked away, his exo-skeleton whirling noisily as he exited the building.

"Stupid bastard..." Mole muttered, rolling the cigar around his mouth once more before reaching back into his pocket and pulling out a pack of matches, lighting the tip of the cigar quickly, offending black smoke appearing almost instantly.

Ignoring the obvious health violation, Dalton ran a hand through his hair, asking wearily, "you think he has any clue what's coming his way?"

Mole, turning to look in the window, rolled his eyes. Following his gaze, Dalton watched as Alec ran a hand through Max's hair, his fingers gently massaging her sculp, his mouth moving softly, the words too low to be heard from their perspective; but Joshua was grinning happily, clearly ecstatic over Alec's actions.

"You X's and your damn mating shit...this is gonna go over great in command meetings," Mole snarked.

Dalton smirked. "Well, look at this way, things will always be entertaining."

Mole just grumbled under his breath and walked away, ignoring Dalton's laughs.

The End

Yeah...not as good as I wanted it to be, but eh...I tried to fix it the best I could but eventually I figured I just better leave well enough alone and hope for the best. Reviews are always welcomed but not enforced ( hasn't seemed to find a way to make that happen yet. lol)

Also, in case it wasn't obvious, Max and Alec were not mated before this started - her being shot kinda brought it out in him :)

Melissa