Oh man...I couldn't help but write another fic for Dark Angel (have so many other fics to write still haha) anyways, I hope you enjoy this first chapter...enjoy y'all!

As Alec strolled into Jam Pony, he put a pleasant smile on his face. He knew that it would be able to win Normal over as it usually did. The X-5 bit back a smirk as he heard trademark "Bip bip bip," and knew that he was probably trying to get everyone to work faster. He knew that most people thought that he just sweet talked Normal into getting him less shifts for more pay. A part of him was hurt that his friends thought that, but he kept his emotions compartmentalized. "Hey Golden Boy!" Normal exclaimed seeing Alec walk into the room. Alec bit back a groan, and kept his smile firmly in place.

"Hey Normal," he said in a cheery voice.

"Got nice package for you today..it is one of our most important and best tipping customers," he said, handing Alec the wrapped package. Alec sometimes did wish that Normal wouldn't treat him to every nice paying package. It wasn't fair to the other employees. Well whatever, he couldn't do anything about it. As he approached his locker, he saw Max stroll in.

"What's your excuse this time Missy Miss?" Normal questioned.

"Can it Normal, I really don't have time for your bullshit today," Max shot at him irritably. Alec looked at her from across the room, and could practically feel her exhaustion from across the room. She stalked past him, and stormed towards her locker. Alec looked at her and saw dark circles under her eyes. He was worried about her, and he knew if he let it show, Max would think that he was hitting on her.

"Hey Maxie," Alec said, leaning against his locker, giving her his trademark grin. To any other girl, that would have made them weak in the knees. Instead it earned him a smack upside his head, and a pointed glare from her.

"Don't call me Maxie," she snarled. He put his hands up in surrender, and knew something was definitely wrong with her. He rubbed his head with his hand, but kept back his teasing tone. He knew that this was definitely not the time to anger this particular female X-5.

"Pull another all nighter?" he questioned in a concerned voice. He wished that Logan wasn't even around. If it wasn't for that virus; Max would probably realize how big of an asshole he really was. Yet here he was every time he needed her, using the power of guilt that Logan held on her. It wasn't his fault that Logan got infected with the virus. He would have been thrown back into Psy Ops again. He held back a shudder, and hoped that his eyes didn't betray what he was truly feeling.

Alec wanted nothing more than to make Max his. Ever since he stepped foot in her cell as 494 and became Alec he knew there was something about her. He knew that there was going to be a time when they would be together, and it wouldn't be forced by him. Alec knew that the time may never come for Max to want him as much as he wanted her. He slipped back into friend mood, and listened as Max continued to complain about not being able to find enough funding for finding a certain lead for the cure.

He looked down at the package in his hands. Alec knew that he would make more than enough money this day, and knew that Max needed this more than he did. "Max...look I know it isn't much, but go ahead and take this...I know these people usually tip really well," That snapped Max out of her somber mood, and her chocolate eyes traveled to look up at his.

"What do you want in return?" Max questioned.

"Max...you don't think I am capable of one kind act?" he asked, feigning hurt. Well he was slightly hurt that Max assumed that he was just some Tom Cat only doing something nice for a girl to get in her pants.

Instead of fighting with him, she just reluctantly took the package Alec was offering. "Thanks Alec," she said warmly.

He gently tugged on the wrapped item playfully, trying to make Max smile. "Alec..." she said, biting her lip trying to hold back a laugh. There we go, he thought, there is his Maxie's smile.

He let it go, and Max gave him a grin. "Thank you Alec...you have no idea how much this means to me," always the friend, never the boyfriend he thought sadly.

"No problem," Alec mumbled. "So you heading to Crash after work?"

"I don't know..." Max whispered.

"Come on Max..." Alec murmured. "It will be fun," he said to her. What was Alec thinking; there was no way that Max was ever going to come to him. She needed to get some serious R&R.

"Well...it has been a while since I have been there," Max murmured softly.

"Good," he said, glad that she was going to get away from constantly looking for a cure. And on top for that, she had been doing all of those Eyes Only missions. "Well I am going to go see if Normal has any more packages for me,"

Max nodded her head, and looked towards Alec's retreating form. As she re-ran the conversation through her head, she didn't seem to notice a flash of sadness pass through his eyes. She shook her head; it probably was just her imagination.

A couple hours later, Max was in front of Crash wondering if she should go in or not. She looked down at her pager, and saw that Logan was paging her again. Here she had two people wanting her to be somewhere. She was getting a little agitated with Logan at the moment. It seemed like he was paging her every five minutes. She felt her pager vibrate again and Max let out an aggravated growl and turned around. She threw the annoying device and jumped when she saw Alec barely dodge out of the way. "Something bothering you Maxie?" he questioned.

"Logan is paging me again!" Max grumbled. Alec slightly widened his eyes in surprise when she didn't correct him.

"Well...I think we need to get your mind off of Logan and Eyes Only," he said with a smile.

"How are we going to do that?" Max inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"I think of night of drinking and playing pool will get your mind off things," he said, gently taking her by the elbow leading her inside Crash. He was once again surprised as she didn't yell at him for "man-handling," her.

"That...that sounds good," she said. Maybe she could let her defenses down around him. Her defenses suddenly kicked back up. Alec was nothing but a tom cat.

"Something wrong?" he questioned, looking at her.

"It's fine," Max said shortly. Alec ignored the tone she clipped towards him; he was more than happy to make sure Max finally had a night out for herself for once.

"I think Max needs a drink," Alec said with a small smirk. He led her over to the bar, and had her sit down on a bar stool. "Hey two shots of Wild Turkey!" Alec called out to the bartender. He nodded his head, and got out to shot glasses.

"Hard stuff already?" Max questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you know how we transgenics are," Alec breathed across her ear. Alec took the shot and placed it in her open palm. He then took his shot, and raised it towards hers. "This is the part where we clink glasses Max," he said as if he was talking to a five year old. She rolled her eyes, and lightly clinked her glass against his. They both lifted the shots to their lips and downed them. Max jerked lightly as the alcohol went down her throat.

He chuckled lightly and patted Max's back. "You ok?" he asked, trying not to chuckle.

"Yeah," she said, gently pushing his hand away from her. "Two more shots!" she called out, and Alec grinned at her. OC and Sketchy didn't show up, but for some odd reason that didn't seem to phase Max as she and Alec continued to drink.

As Alec looked at the other X-5, he couldn't help but continue grinning. He had other girls pining over him constantly, and yet this particular one was always clouding his mind. The fact that she was slowly opening up to him clearly made him overjoyed. "Maxie...I think you are a little buzzed,"

"Don't call me that," she said with a giggle. "And I am not buzzed," she said in a serious voice. She let out a yelp as she felt a buzzing in her jacket.

"What?" he asked, also slightly feeling the buzz coming on.

"My cell phone is going off...again," she said, reaching into her jacket. She saw it was Logan, and let out a slight growl. Alec tried not to seem surprised about her reaction. She clicked it off, and it fell to the ground. Alec bent down to pick it up, and suddenly he looked into her chocolate colored eyes. He could get lost in those eyes. Without even realizing it, he started to lean in closer looking at her face. Before he knew it, he closed the distance between them. He placed his lips whisper soft against hers, lightly cupping her face in his hands.

She responded to his kiss. It almost felt natural to her; her and Alec hanging out...and now this. Before Alec could begin to enjoy it, she pulled away. Reality came in like a bucket of ice cold water just got poured over Alec's head. Before Alec could even open his mouth to make even an apology come out, she quickly got off her seat. She sprinted out the door, and Alec felt something heavy on his heart. He let out a low even sigh, and left a wad of bills on the table before heading towards his motorcycle.

He swung his leg over his bike, and started it up. He felt his Manticore mask slip back on as he headed towards his apartment. That kiss made feelings he hadn't felt since Rachel come back to surface...except it felt real. Did Max actually think he just wanted to screw her and leave her the next morning? He was so deep in thought, he didn't realize that someone was tailing him. Suddenly his senses kicked in, and he sped up. Suddenly a gun shot rang out, and caught him on the shoulder. He lost control of his bike and was careening off his bike and into a wall.

The last thing he thought of was Max before darkness clouded his vision...