Disclaimer: I do not own the wonderfully imaginative creation of James Cameron known as Dark Angel…what a shame…

A/N: This is a new fanfic creation by me, inspired by the Billy Joel song by the same name. Please enjoy, I have been having a wonderful time writing it, and will continue to do so…please R&R.

Always a Woman

Chapter One: Always a Woman to Me

Alec looked at the older man across from him. "You really don't see her at all do you?"

"Of course I do. I love her." Logan looked defiantly at the transgenic.

"That's a lie and you know it," Alec wasted no time is squashing this man's perverted idea of love. "No man I know that loves a woman would ever send her into danger without thought, even if she is the most talented, able transgenic in the world." Alec leveled a glare at Logan. He was so angry he could barely breathe.

The older man looked at the floor. A subconscious action that gave away the truth.It wasLogan's admittance that hedidn't love Max. He might have at one point, but not anymore, he just didn't recognize it yet. But Alec saw it, even if Logan didn't. He really didn't love Max at all. He saw her as a friend, certainly, but he didn't love her that much.

Alec did. He's the one who had stepped in when Logan had given them their last mission. They were supposed to go in to retrieve a safe deposit box chock full of top secret lab experiments and notes on transgenic field application. Logan somehow got the vain hope that within its contents would be the antidote for the virus that Max carried around inside her, making it impossible for her to touch him without the threat of his imminent death.

The guy was selfish, to say the least. He didn't care what happened to them as long as he could touch his precious Max again, without worrying he would die. Alec was not going to let her go into enemy territory and risk possible capture, just so Logan could get a file that may or may not hold the key to the Manticore virus in Max's veins. Alec half-heartedly wished that the virus which laid in wait to lash out at the cyber-journalist would just finish off the geek. But unfortunately, or fortunately—it really depended on how you looked at it—the key to the antidote was inside the safe deposit box. Inside of one week Logan had the antidote manufactured, and the instant they picked up the syringe, Max injected herself with it, rendering the virus obsolete.

Logan adopted a dubious expression on his face.

Alec really couldn't believe that this man could recognize the root of his own ambitions. He had been using Max for his own gain all along, the whole while believing that he loved her. He actually had deluded himself into thinking that he could act for the good of mankind, save the world… The whole super-hero complex he carried around everywhere with him was finally getting to him. When Alec could breathe again through his anger at the older man, he saw the look on his face and spoke. "What? You want to know what love is like?"

"In your case, for Max, yes. I love her and I want to make sure that you come up to par."

"Blah, blah. Woof, woof." Alec rolled his eyes. "That's a laugh."

Logan ignored the comment. "I would like this much: How do you really feel about her? How well do you really know her?"

"I don't know why I have to explain myself to you…" He nearly groaned in annoyance, having to explain his feelings to a non-descript computer geek with a complex mirroring Professor Xavier from the X-men. "But, I'll tell you." His eyes looked at Logan as he spoke, but his thoughts were very far away. "Max is…well," a gentle, involuntary laugh escaped his lips. "She can definitely kill with her smile."

"What do you mean by that?" Logan was shocked by Alec's first remark.

"It's a kind of vicious innocence: It pulls you in and caresses your every desire, until you realize the game is in her ball-park and there's no ref."

Logan wordlessly nodded. He knew the effect of Max's smile. It captured him the first time he saw it. He could have sworn he'd been drugged.

Alec continued, not noticing Logan's movements of agreement. "Her eyes alone can inflict incapacitating damage," he shuddered, "I know. I've been on the receiving end one too many times….But then again, I would rather die by her hand, or eyes, than live the rest of my life without knowing her." He leaned forward shrugging, as if there was no explanation, "She's amazing. She can either destroy or bolster beliefs with simple words. The first time we were on any kind of a mission together, I went back to save her skinny behind. There was no thank you. She just said 'if you wanna play the hero, you can't be half-assed about it.' She changed my life forever."

Alec sat for a moment in total silence. Logan knew there was more, simply by the look Alec had in his eyes. The transgenic always had a big mouth, ever since Logan met the man. But it was rare when Alec opened up like this. Alec was a soldier, he didn't get mushy. Most of the time, he seemed to not have emotions other than humor and a fierce protective nature over Max and the other transgenics the two had saved.

Logan nearly jumped when Alec continued. "She hides a lot of who she is." Alec rubbed his cheek, as if scratching at an imaginary itch. "She only gives away what she wants to let people know. Lots of secrets, and she holds them all deep, deep in her heart. Not a lot can break her cover of them. And if you ask her to share, you'd find yourself needing a new face. But when she does break, she's like a glass ornament: if she's chipped, the remaining structure can shatter with the minimalist of pressures.

"There aren't many things that scare her, but the things that do reduce her to childhood. She's terrified of loosing people. For a long time, she was terrified of Lydecker. Then she met him again. She told me that when she and Zack confronted him about Brin's capture, she was disappointed in what she saw. He was nothing but a wrinkled old man, with only half the power he once had over her. She figured she could squish him like a bug, just as much as she could have as a child. Only now, she wasn't afraid of him. He was no more a demon who would return from the dead than Edgar Sonrisa."

"Everyone would follow her every whim if she asked them to, she has that much charisma." Alec looked up and actually focused on Logan. "You saw her after the Jam Pony siege. That first night with everyone in TC. Everyone chose to follow her, chose to find a place in the world rather than run as we had since the escape. It was incredible. Wasn't it?"

Alec watched acceptingly as Logan nodded. That was one point on which he would allow Logan to have an opinion. Mostly because Alec knew Logan would agree with him.

"Max listens to advice, but doesn't often use it. She waits until she has all of the information before she makes a decision. She used to be impulsive, especially when it came to her family, but now she sees a whole lot more. She knows how important her decisions are: she sees--no, she recognizes the consequences before she makes the decisions. She refuses to put anyone in direct danger. Given, danger is the world in which we live now, but she will not risk the lives of her people without good reason--"

Logan broke in. "This person you are describing sounds more like a modge-podge creation of off-the-handle, dangerously charged emotion. Max is controlled. She doesn't let anything bother her.."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Alec couldn't believe it. Logan hadknown Max a full year longer than he did, and the man still didn't see how broken Max could get sometimes. "Max isn't a creature. To me, Max is a woman. No matter what circumstance deals, she's always a woman." Alec resumed his hard stare at the man across from him. "Not as a tool, as you see her." Alec sat back for a moment, and then stood up. "You just think about that for a while. I'll be back."

"Yeah? And where are you going?" Logan dared to use a threatening tone with Alec. He was not finished with this discussion about Max.

Alec gave the older man a look as if to say 'are you kidding me?' He rolled his eyes, "I don't have the time to educate you about the grievous error you just made in threatening me." He then shook his head and accepted it as part of the arrogant jerk's one-track mindedness. "You were so into your rant about the non-existent relationship between you and Max that you didn't even hear your own police scanner report the capture of a woman matching Max's description."

Logan waved a hand, dismissing the possibility. "It could be anyone. Besides, Max is an X5. She can take care of herself."

"You keep trying to say that. But then again, that is all that Max is to you. Your personal X5, a house trained cat burglar who does whatever you tell her to." Alec released a sigh trying to calm down. "What you didn't hear on that police scanner was that it took four men to take this girl in." He gritted his teeth at the man's stupidity. "I'm going to get her." With that he left the penthouse, focusing on the more important task at hand--breaking Max out of police custody.