Snow

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel

Summary: The snow. The snow. One thing, one element, brought back painful memories for Max, and refused to go out of her mind. One-shot. Max/Alec/Some Ames White back at Manticore.

I hate snow, thought the irritated X-5 who's name had helped her buy her freedom, her liberty. It's pointless, white fluff, she thought, pedaling harder. And it doesn't help that I have to go all the way to sector 5 on my stupid bike. Stupid snow. She shook her head, wanting the snow to disappear. For the snow, brought back painful memories. The snow, brought back memories, of Manticore.

"X-5452! X-5494!" Shouted the guard. Max and Alec stepped forward, the snow crunching under their footsteps. They approached, looking ahead.

"Yes Sir!" They shouted in unison, their hands behind their backs.

"You are to work together on this mission! Your goal is to find the objective! This is a important mission and failure is not an option!" He spat in their faces, and spoke down to them.

"No Sir! We will not fail!" They spoke in unison agin, almost as if they had rehearsed it.

"Good! Now move out!" Max and Alec jogged to the forest, on their way to a confusing, challenging mission.

They crept silently through the woods, looking for an unknown mission base. Of course Manticore had it's secret ways, it's resources. They knew that the base was run by Ames White.

The Ames White who had ruined Max's and Alec's lives. It was White who caught them and brought them back to Manticore. It was White who had built a new version of Manticore, and stole all the technology from Renfro. It was White, who was the Conclave's leader. It was White. That was why Max and Alec wanted to do this mission right. Even if it meant following Manticore regulations.

After White had established a new Manticore, a new director came into place. And White had continued building things of the unknown. Along the way though, White had become Manticore's enemy. Max and Alec weren't sure why, or how, but all they did know was that it gave them a chance to get back at White.

Max stopped dead, looking up at the sky. The snow grew heavier by the moment, and she took it as a bad sign. Alec looked back at her and gestured for her to hurry up and that they were almost there. Max nodded her head, and continued to follow.

They saw a grey building, packed with outside security. Alec stepped in front of Max and used a series of hand motions to tell her the plan. Max shook her head, no, it's to dangerous! But Alec was already headed for his part of the plan. Max tried to stop him, but he firmly told her to go where he had told her to in the first place. Max reluctantly started off, but had a sudden urge to look back. This was it, their chance to get back at White. And they had better not screw it up.

Max advanced on three guards, having their backs turned to her. She advanced, but they surprised her with tazers. She fell back, on the ground, unable to move. She felt a wave of cold wash over her, and her world, went black.

"452! Wake up and get off the ground!" Max looked up, only to see Ames White standing over her. Her first reaction was to yell, "My name is Max!" But then she realized that she couldn't speak.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" White smiled and said,

"Don't worry it'll pass in a couple of minutes. Now, I know that they want to know what this is. This building." He leaned closer to her and said,

"Well, they aren't gonna know. You lost. I'm gonna let you go, this time, forget anything ever happened. Oh, and, I'm terribly sorry for your loss." White got up off the ground, brushing the snow off himself. Then turned away, and walked back into the mysterious building. Max tested her voice, and realized she could talk again. The guards were back in their normal positions, acting as if nothing had happened.

Max's blood suddenly ran cold with fear. Alec. Where's Alec?

"Alec!" She called out. She stopped when she saw his body on the ground a couple feet away from the building. She sprinted over to him, and screamed. The snow, a red color from his blood. It appeared that White had shot him as he came out of the building.

The guard at the door motioned for her to go, but she just stood there, to shocked to cry. The guard came closer and nudged her with his gun. This brought her back to reality and she sprinted away, like a frightened animal.

As she ran she thought, just like Ben. It was then that she stopped, fell to the snow blanketed ground and started sobbing. She walked her way back to Manticore, her heart crushed.

By the time Max got back she had gotten ahold of herself.

"Where's 494?" Asked the guard. Max looked at him and coldly said,

"He didn't make it."

It was that night Max had escaped. It appeared everyone in Seattle was the same, except her. She lived life without a care, hoping to forget. Hoping that the snow, would never turn red again. But she still remembered. Oh yes, she still remembered. And every time it snowed, she could still hear herself say,

"He didn't make it."