DA Fic: In Treatment (R) 2/?

[death_of_dreams]

Title: In Treatment Part 2
Go Back: Part 1    
Go Forward: Part 3
Fandom: Dark Angel
Author: death_of_dreams (aka Esti)
Rating: R
Genre: Humor/Romance/Drama
Pairing: Max/Alec
Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Angel in any way or any of its characters.
Warnings: Not beta-ed. So please memo me if you find any mistakes that I will try to fix ASAP.
Summary: For Eyes Only, Max and Alec have to go to couple's therapy in order to reveal a scam, but they may discover more than that...

Max and Alec arrived at the Harmony Couple’s Retreat, each holding a duffel bag

and trying to stay calm. The retreat grounds were in the woods, with over a dozen cabins for lodging and three large cabins surrounding a large fire pit.

“Oh, look Maxie, maybe they’ll let us sing Kumbaya,” Alec joked. She glared at him.

“Hi there!” A high squeaky voice called. They both turned to see a blonde in jeans and a low cut sweater jog over to them. Her smile went from ear to ear, and Max already hated her.

“You must be the Bradys! Welcome to the Harmony Couple’s Retreat! We are so excited that you’re here!” She squealed, clapping her hands together. Lie, Max thought automatically. “We have everything ready for you to get your love back on track!”

Alec pondered why she had to end every sentence with an upbeat note. It was rather annoying.

The woman’s perkiness didn’t fade. “I’m Jackie and I am here to help guide you on your journey back into love. And you two don’t have to worry about a thing because here at Harmony we’ve never failed to put a couple in the right spot.” Her hands flew about as she accentuated what she was saying, the ends of her fingers tipped in baby pink nail polish.

She stopped to tuck her hair behind her ears. “So you’re Alex,” she looked at Max and then turned to Alec, “and you’re Max, right?” she asked, still grinning.

Alec jumped in, afraid Max would maul her. “Actually, I’m Alec,” he corrected her, trying to emphasize the ending of his name. “And this is my wife Max.”

“Oopsie-daisy!” She giggled, and Max’s urge to pummel the woman grew. “Well no worries, we got your file from Dr. Gibbons and we have set up a special program to patch up all your problems. I hope you’re excited!”

“Oh, I’m excited alright,” Max answered and Alec coughed.

“Great! Now if you’ll just follow me…” Jackie proceeded to give them a quick tour, explaining that the smaller cabins were for each couple to have their own private space and that the larger cabins were for group workshops, as well as a mess hall where they served three meals a day. She stopped at the cabin marked “Raccoon” and pulled out a key to get in, leading them inside.

“This is your cabin! For the rest of your stay, you’re gonna be Mr and Mrs. Raccoon!”

She handed the key to the cabin to Max and turned around. “You two should take a little while, rearrange or redecorate however you feel - we want you to feel as comfortable here as you do in your own home. Your itinerary for your stay is on the desk. You are allowed to leave the grounds, but we recommend that you spend as much time here as possible to get the full benefit of our retreat. Do you have any questions?”

“Yeah, how many happy pills do you take daily?” Max muttered, and Alec elbowed her in the side.

“Sorry, what was that?”
         “I think we’re all good here. Thanks Jackie,” Alec answered smoothly, giving their host a grin, which she eagerly returned, batting her eyelashes at Alec.

Max clenched her jaw. They were at a couples retreat and here that woman was, flirting with her husband…not that Max cared, just that it seemed indecent.

“Just call me if you have any questions. We’ll see you two at dinner!” Jackie clapped again and walked out of the cabin, closing the door behind her.

Max surveyed the room slowly. There were two large dressers for clothing and the whole room was set up around a king size bed with floral print and large fluffy pillows. She walked over to take a look at the bathroom and a grin broke out over her face. A large Jacuzzi tub with more than enough room for two was in the bathroom, along with a closed stand up shower. The idea of a long hot bath made her so excited she felt the urge to squeal - and quickly squashed it.

Turning around, Alec was pulling his clothes out of his duffel bag and dropping them into a drawer. His eyes darted to the two cameras in the room - which Max scoffed at; they weren’t even hidden well. He looked up at her and grinned, grabbed their itinerary and stuffed it into his pocket.

“Well wifey, ready for group therapy?” He smirked, wiggling his eyebrows at her and she glared, closing the door to the bathroom. It was going to be a long two weeks.

-x-

Max and Alec entered the dining cabin to see eight tables pushed together into one straight line. Couples all sat next to each other, eating dinner. Jackie ran over to meet them.

“Hi Mr and Mrs Raccoon, we are so glad you could join us. Come on over and meet the group!”

Jackie tugged them to the center of the table and introduced each of the twelve other couples in turn - each with obnoxious animal names. Wombat, Hawk, Rabbit, Wolf, Monkey…

“…and that’s Mr and Mrs. Fox, Mr and Mrs Mouse, Mr and Mrs Frog, Mr and Mr Owl,” she pointed to the gay couple holding hands, “Mrs and Mrs Giraffe,” the lesbian couple next to them, “Mr and Mrs Koala, and Mr and Mrs Duck.” The woman of the last couple she pointed to actually waved at Max and Alec, smiling friendly.

The couples all shifted around so that there was room between the monkeys and the mice for the raccoons to sit down. Jackie clapped her hands excitedly and ran off towards the kitchen.

Two plates were passed over to Max and Alec, and the food started circling by. Both took large helpings of fresh vegetables, chicken, potatoes, and rice. The man on Alec’s left nudged him.

“Don’t let Jackie scare you, she doesn’t do any of the actual therapy or events here, just co-ordinates everything,” the man said. Max and Alec nodded focusing on him. The man lifted a hand to Alec. “Hey, I’m Mitch, aka ‘Mr. Monkey’” he introduced himself, using obnoxious air quotes and rolling his eyes when adding his retreat name. Gesturing to his right he said, “And this is Mrs. Monkey, Arlene.”

Alec held out a hand and shook Mitch’s. “I’m Alec and this is Max.”

Mitch nodded and passed a basket of bread to Alec, who passed it on to Max. Max snatched up a roll and handed it to the person across from her.

“Any idea what your schedule’s like? We can let you know what you’re in for,” Arlene offered. She seemed nice enough, so Alec shrugged and tugged the piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Mr and Mrs Monkey poured over the schedule, stopping occasionally to smile or laugh.

“Looks like you guys are going to be spending some time with Maggie,” Arlene commented, and the lesbian couple giggled.

“Who’s Maggie?” Max asked.

“The sex therapist.”

Both Max and Alec choked.

-x-

Max and Alec sat perfectly still on opposite ends of the couch. The woman sitting on a bean bag chair in front of them was wearing loose jeans and a t shirt, with long blonde hair that had a purple streak down the front. She didn’t look like a therapist at all. In fact, if Max had met her on the street, she would’ve thought that Maggie Thorton was potentially cool.

She smiled gently at both of them, which neither transgenic returned. She sighed. “Look guys, you need to relax. I promise I’m not going to hurt you,” she said.

“Yeah, about that. See, Maggie…we’re not comfortable discussing our sex life so sex therapy…”

“Is exactly what you need,” Maggie interrupted. “Sex therapy is about learning to tell your partner what you want and what you need - it’s the biggest problem between you two. So we’re going to fix that. You’ll also be meeting with my husband Greg, who does a more standard type of couple’s therapy.”

Max raised her eyes. Maggie seemed kind of young to be married. “You’re married?”

Maggie grinned. “For six years now,” she answered calmly. “Now listen,” Maggie said, leaning forward in her chair. “Sex therapy isn’t just about fixing your sex life - it’s vital for teaching you two how to communicate your own wants, needs, desires, thoughts, likes and dislikes,” she folded her hands together. “We’re going to make you two feel comfortable telling each other things again. Okay?”

Max gulped and nodded slowly. She was hating this idea already.

Alec nodded once, stern and suspicious.

“So, Alec. Tell me something you find attractive in a woman.”

He swallowed slowly, knowing he was clearly on thin ice. “Any woman, Alec. Body parts, personality traits, quirks or habits, anything that attracts you.”

“I like women, doc. All shapes and sizes.”

Max scoffed. Maggie raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. “Try to be specific, Alec.”

He thought. “I like…uh, legs. Legs are good. And um, long hair.” He swallowed past the lump in his throat.”

Max shifted uncomfortably. She had legs. And long hair. It didn’t mean anything.

Alec grinned roguishly. “I like breasts too. Not huge or anything, but a good solid handful, with some weight to them.”

Max looked at her lap. That put her out of the running - she had a nice chest, but her breasts wouldn’t be described like that.

“Okay, personality traits?” Maggie asked.

“I like feisty women, who go after what they want. Women who like to have fun, who are really casual.”

“And sexually? In bed? Do you prefer to be dominant or submissive?”

“Everybody should get to play.”

“If you had to choose?”

“I imagine it would depend on my mood, and hers I guess.”

“Okay. Max, what attracts you to a man?”

At the sound of her name, Max snapped out of her daze. And then realized where her thoughts had been heading. And no, it had nothing to do with Alec and sex. Not at all. Not ever.

Alec was watching her, and so was the shrink. Max was suddenly incredibly nervous.

“I don’t know.”

“Well Max, think about it. Maybe focus on Alec? Just pick body parts that you find attractive.”

She could feel his smirk as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. It wasn’t like he should get a lot of credit for his physical body since Manticore made it.

“Uh, he has really nice…hands.” Hands sounded safe. They were kind of generic and okay, yes, they were nice hands and she had heard OC saying something about how he probably knew exactly what to do with them. It seemed like a safe choice.

“Good! Okay, what else?” Maggie was leaning forward, and Max could tell that her eyes were flicking over to Alec’s body. She got the feeling like Maggie would happily jump in if Max didn’t come up with some more answers.

Oddly, Max felt the urge to growl and demand that Maggie back off of her man.

She breathed in and reminded herself she was only fake married to Alec.

Turning, Max bit her lower lip and started at his feet. They weren’t particularly appealing. She let her eyes travel up his body slowly and her mouth started to dry out. Had she ever really looked at Alec before? Because he was extremely well put together.

“He’s got nice abs and a good chest…nice arms….”she trailed off when she looked up and noticed he was watching her. But instead of the customary smirk she was expecting, he was looking back at her. His eyes seemed darker then normal.

“Good!” Maggie seemed genuinely excited. “Alec, I know we skipped ahead with Max to you specifically. So what about Max specifically do you find appealing?”

Alec gulped. It wasn’t so much fun when the tables were turned.

He covered it with a grin.  He shrugged. “Max is hot.” He wiggled his eyebrows at Max, who scoffed.

“Okay, but be specific Alec.”

He swallowed and looked over Max quickly. “She’s got great legs.” Maggie nodded, encouraging for him to keep going. He moved his eyes back to her body, letting them linger on her curves. He wasn’t about to turn a freebie to make Max feel awkward and scope her out at the same time.

“And hips, and these breasts that look like they’d fit perfectly into the palm of your hand and the fullest lips you’ve ever seen and she feels really good when she presses up against you,” Alec trailed off, realizing that he had let his mouth run away from him.

Maggie smiled and leaned back in her chair.

“Alright, you two did really good work today. I want you to spend the next two days making a point of touching each other more. Hold hands when you walk places. Make sure your legs touch when you sit down next to each other. And when you come to our next session, I want you two to be touching the entire time. Okay?”

They both nodded.

“I don’t know if you noticed the cameras, but I want you not to worry about it. They don’t pick up sound at all and only Greg and I will watch them, which we generally only do on fast forward. So please don’t feel like your privacy is being taken away because we just like to check to see that you’re making an effort. So I’ll see you next session.” Maggie stood, shook both of their hands and flew out the door, leaving it open behind her.

-x-

They spent the next two hours in silence. They went back to their cabin, located all of the cameras and confirmed that there was in fact no sound transmission. Max took a bath, trying to scrub the embarrassment out of her skin. When she emerged, Alec was propped up on the bed, reading.

“I didn’t know you liked to read,” she mentioned, as she grabbed a brush and started tugging it through her hair.

“Yeah sure, if there’s nothing good on TV,” he answered, turning the page. She glanced over, focusing on the cover.

“Les Trois Mousquetaires,” she read, her unpractised tongue tripping over the French - not that she couldn’t process what the Three Musketeers would be called in French.

“Dumas wrote a lot of really interesting stuff,” Alec answered.

“And you speak enough French to read the book?”

He shrugged. “Yeah.”

Max put a hand on her hip. “Why didn’t you just get the English version?”

“A lot of stuff gets lost in translation.” He answered, going back to his book. Max finished combing her hair and put the brush back on the dresser. She walked around slowly, looking for something to do. She dragged her fingers over the drawer handles.

Alec noticed how bored she was, smirked and folded down the corner of his page, setting his book down on the bedside table.

“Well Maxie, wanna take a walk, do some espionage?”

“Yeah sure, whatever.”

-x-

By the time group therapy rolled around, they had assessed that there was exactly two buildings with basements. None of the cabins other than the couple’s cabins were locked, and the place seemed very clean.

They divided up into two rooms. Max was assigned to group three, and Alec to group one.

-

“Okay. So today we’re going to talk about opening up to our partners. Everybody in this group seems to have trouble talking about even the most basic of things - family, past lovers, or even our own feelings. So I want to go around and you tell us one thing you’ve never told your partner about and why you haven’t told them.”

Greg was heading up this session, after saying that all of the counsellors here rotated and each took a group and discussed general topics for everyone to work on with their partners.

Ellen (Mrs. Duck) went first. “I never told Jake that I was engaged before I met him. I didn’t want to be jealous or worry that I was still in love with my ex-fiancé.”

Derek (Mr. Hawk) never told his wife that he was upset that they couldn’t have kids. Mrs. Wombat had an abortion early in her marriage.

Max had a very lengthy list of things to choose from. The only thing Alec knew was that his clone had been her brother and that Zach’s memory had been wiped and that he had been shipped off to live in peace.

She figured she’d stick with the family theme.

“He doesn’t know much about my family.” She said. “He met one of my brothers, and I told him about what happened to one of my other brothers, but that’s it. He doesn’t know anything about the rest of my brothers or any of my sisters.”

“And why didn’t you tell him about them, Max?”

“Because it’s none of his business.”

Greg turned to fully face her. “Max, what will happen if Alec knows about your family. Do you think he can - or that he would use that information to hurt you?”

She glared at the shrink - because he was clearly off his rocker.

“No.”

“So why not tell him?”

“He doesn’t want to hear about it.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Why not?” Greg questioned, a raised eyebrow.

“Because he didn’t have a family - I’m not about to remind him of what he didn’t have.”

“Ah, but that’s the thing, Max. You’re his family now.”

-x-

Alec walked into their cabin and kicked his boots off, looking up to see Max sitting on the bed in the dark. He could see clearly, so he didn’t bother to turn the light on.

“Max?” He called. Her shoulders were suddenly still and he realized they had been shaking. He quickly moved around the bed and knelt in front of her. “Hey, was group therapy that bad?” He asked, hoping he was helping.

She smiled and swatted at the tears under her eyes. “Greg just was asking all these questions about my family and stuff and it just reminded made me think about how I much I miss them.” Alec nodded, understanding.

“Man, all we talked about was signs that we wanna have sex,” he joked. “For the record, I pace and scratch behind my ears more often - since I know you wanted to know.” She smiled again, but it wasn’t genuine.

He moved beside her and sat down on the bed, lending silent support. Surprisingly, she leaned against him.

Maybe this therapy thing isn’t going to totally suck after all, Alec thought.

This therapy thing sucks, Max thought.

-x-

I hope you enjoyed! Comments and critique are awesome. Part III will show up eventually, and by that I hopefully mean soon!

Edit: OMG OMG Look Go to Chapter Three!!