DISCLAIMER: Dark Angel does not belong to me.

A/N: I've been having some writer's block. Even the 100-word drabbles weren't formulating in my head. So, I just sat down and looked through some random ideas that I had typed a while ago. I needed something to break my writer's block. These snippets were the result. It's basically a series of moments (missing scenes) that follow throughout Season 2 chronicling how Max could fall for Alec. Hope you guys like it.

PS: Thanks to Flaymzofice for her awesome beta work!

1. The Non-Breeding Partner

Max slowly slid to the floor of her cell in Manticore and watched X5-494, her brother's equally beautiful twin, sleep on her bunk. Suddenly, his long lashes fluttered slightly and Max couldn't help but smirk. Or pretend to sleep.

"Why?" she called out to him from her corner.

He grunted, but didn't say anything. He turned his head to face her though, opening one eye lazily.

"Why aren't you following mission objectives?"

He slowly opened both hazel-green eyes, regarding her speculatively. He cocked a brow sardonically at her, "Would you like me to? Because quite frankly, I have no problems with…performing…mission objectives," he grinned cockily at her.

Max grimaced in disgust, "Hell, no."

"That's why." He returned to his earlier relaxed position on her bunk, no longer facing her. He crossed his arms over his chest and settled more comfortably against her pillow.

"Can't take rejection, huh?" She stopped, gritting her teeth in annoyance. Why was she baiting him? They could both wait in perfect silence for their hour together to be over.

"Hmm…think what you like, 452," he replied easily. "Far as I'm concerned, I like copulation to be consensual. Makes things more…pleasant."

"My name's Max," she informed him indignantly. "And copulation for Manticore breeding purposes is never going to be pleasant. Think about it."

"Not gonna lose any sleep over this. This is all your fault anyway." he grunted, but didn't bother to call her by either her designation or her name.

"Well, I'm not gonna let my kid be raised in this hellhole and become a little soldier," she mumbled.

"I turned out okay," he grinned, turning back around to face her. He was rolling around in her bunk quite a bit. She couldn't help but think that her bunk would smell like him from now on. Never letting her forget.

"Puh-lease," she scowled at him. "You're an amoral puppet who can't tell the difference between right and wrong."

He lost his grin, his eyes faded into a dull grey-brown, and he looked intently down at her. "Maybe you're right. But at least I'm not…forcibly following mission objectives. You think about that, 452." Then he turned back to lie on the bunk. "Now, if you can possibly learn to be quiet, I'm gonna get something useful out of this and sleep. Wake me up in forty minutes."

Max felt vaguely ashamed at her verbal assault on him. She had judged him based only on the fact that he had lived his whole life in Manticore. She knew nothing about 494. Except that he sold Cuban cigars and vitamins to the guards. And that he had quite a mouth on him and a smart-aleck-y grin.

494 didn't add up. He wasn't quite the true-blue soldier, but he wasn't exactly anti-Manticore, either. Suddenly, she didn't want him to just be 494. He was a man, but he was also an assassin. He didn't always follow orders, but he didn't seem to feel remorse when he did. He smiled easily, but there was a dangerous glint in his eye. He charmed with his wit, and he bit with his sarcasm.

No, 494 didn't add up. He was something more than a number. He needed a name.

2. To the Rescue

The kids were huddled in their van, sleeping, obviously exhausted by their ordeal. She couldn't blame them. In the last week since she'd burnt Manticore to the ground, they'd probably trekked a hundred clicks through the Seattle forests, without much food or water—only to find out that their own Command had betrayed them. Their world had suddenly changed, and life as they knew it, was now a whole different ball game.

It was quiet, as she sat on watch a few paces away from the van.

Quiet, except for the noisy crunching of the guy next to her as he munched on pork rinds.

"Could you eat any louder? Or are you, trying to get us caught?" she hissed in annoyance.

Alec turned to face her and bit into another piece with great drama and deliberation. "You mean like—" crunch "—that?" he wondered innocently.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you that chewing with your mouth open, and talking with your mouth full, is impolite?" she said through gritted teeth.

"Apparently not," he grinned, not at all bothered.

And Max realized that Alec was just like one of those kids in the van. Except that he didn't seem to be floundering around in confusion at his new state of existence. He was the kind of guy who rolled with the punches and hit the ground running. He was a survivor.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

He cocked a brown in slight confusion.

"For getting me out of White's camp earlier today," she finished.

He shrugged, dismissing her gratitude. And she noticed that he had put the pork rinds away and was now snacking quietly with his mouth closed. She couldn't help but smile. He did listen. And importantly, he learned every step of the way. He was gonna be all right.

"Why'd you come back?"

She heard him swallow his food before smirking at her. "Well, what can I say, Max, you must have touched something in my heart."

She looked at him in horrified disbelief, and he released a shout of laughter, almost choking on his snack.

"Check you out," he chuckled. "You spout off all this 'inspirational' chat, and then you're shocked to hear that it might have worked. You're a real piece of work, 452."

"Max."

"Still you."

"Not really."

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, totally."

"Fine." He paused deliberately and smiled widely at her. "Max," he shrugged, and stared out into the darkness of the forest.

Max frowned slightly at him. "I'm not shocked. Just didn't think you were the sentimental, heart-and-soul typa guy. Sappy, don't ya think?"

He gave her a long, searching look. "Nobody gets left behind, Max. Not even you." Then he stood up and walked away from her, leaving her wondering what the hell he meant by that.

3. Proof

She sat at the top of the Space Needle, a dry trail of too many tears on her face. Tonight, she'd lost the cure because she couldn't let Alec die. He was a screw-up, constantly crashing into her life in ways that threw her off-course.

But she couldn't have let him die, tonight. She couldn't because he had shown her proof.

He hadn't killed her when he had the chance. He had shown her proof that he wasn't just a bad guy. A mindless, mission-driven soldier. A selfish, self-preserving bastard.

No…he really wasn't.

Third time's the charm right? First he didn't force himself on her as her breeding partner, despite the punishments Manticore handed out of insubordination. Then he turned his car around and saved her from White. And now…he had just spared her life, even when he really had no reason to.

No other reason except that he was a good guy after all. At the very end of his life, he had still chosen to do the right thing, and for some reason, she hated him for it.

Because now, she had to do right by him, too.

And he had looked at her with those eyes that really said they were sorry.

"I'm sorry, Max. For everything."

But she couldn't look at him. He had saved her life in exchange for his, and she had barely made the decision to save his…only because she wanted to be with her boyfriend. Who was the bad guy here?

4. Two of A Kind

"You're casing the place."

"No, I'm not," he denied, but his eyes were roving over the old lady's apartment, expertly picking out the pieces that would be worth his time.

Max shook her head disbelievingly at him. "Yes, you are. I knew that's why you took this job—'cuz you wanted a sector pass and you were looking for a place to rob."

He turned and looked her straight in the eye, "Isn't that why you took this job?"

Well, he had her there. Of the others of her escaped Unit, none had turned out like her; they had never understood the way she lived. They didn't understand why she chose to be a bike messenger by day, a cat burglar by night, and friends at her side.

But Alec…they were two of a kind, in more ways than one.

5. Brotherly Type

"Max, Max, let me ask you a question. Think there's something a little, uh, little off about Brother Zack?" asked Alec, jogging up next to her as she made her way to the bar to get another pitcher of beer.

She stopped in her tracks and faced him. "Like what?"

Alec smirked down at her, "Well, for starters, he doesn't act like any brother I've ever seen."

Max frowned at him, crossing her arms in front of her defensively. "Got something to say Alec, spit it out."

"Seems to me like he's got the hots for you," he shrugged with purposeful casualness. "It's kinda kinky if you ask me."

"I didn't," snapped Max. She wanted to groan out loud. Of all the things to point out about Zack, he had to pick up on the definite, over-zealous, overprotective, over-possessive boyfriend vibe. "And stay out of it."

He looked at her innocently. "I'm just saying."

What? That he noticed someone else noticing her? "Well, don't," Max glared at him. She didn't need his attention on this matter either—although, his attention strayed far from Zack's. "'Cuz I don't wanna know what goes on in that sick little mind of yours."

He gave her puppy dog eyes that she wanted to gouge out of his head. "That hurts," he pouted.

Honestly, did he think it was kinky that Zack had the hots for her? That was just wrong on all sorts of levels. So typically Alec. She gave him a withering look, "Truth always does."

She started to turn away, but changed her mind briefly. "And Zack is just my brother. That's it."

He shrugged and grinned at her. "I still don't get that whole brother-sister deal. Lucky for you, I'm not the brotherly type."

She gave him an assessing look, before giving her head a brisk shake. She quickly spun around and headed towards the bar. She had always considered all Manticore alum as her family. Brothers and sisters. But for some reason, she didn't want Alec to be her brother.

"Can I get a refill?" she called to the bartender. She wouldn't know what to do with him. Good thing he wasn't the brotherly type.

6. The Disney Version

The Disney version usually, didn't involve genetically enhanced human hybrids made in a lab.…or a few dozen little guppy looking fish babies swimming around their very human-looking parents. Kinda strange, really. More like the Twilight Zone.

It also didn't much involve bullet holes through the arm.

Max glanced over her shoulder at Alec, who was still standing patiently by Asha's car as she rummaged through her trunk of random knick-knacks looking for bandages. He was clutching his arm, which still bled, though not as badly. He had to have been in pain. But he hadn't said a word.

Surprising, considering he whined so loudly whenever a drop of rain so much as landed on his head.

And then it dawned on her. Alec had had her back for every second of their little search and rescue adventure. Got shot while doing it, too. In fact, she even remembered to thank him for it.

She grinned to herself before settling onto a log to watch their Manticore-made friends swim away. She kept that little smile on her face because well, that was kinda like their very own Disney version.

7. Getting the Message

Like finding the cure for the virus wasn't hard enough, Alec had to toss her virus papers onto Joshua's painting for palimpsest. That was just like adding insult to injury.

She huffed tiredly. Then she curled her body in Joshua's couch, brooding, falling very close to feeling sorry for herself. Then she heard a creak on the floorboard, and her eyes slid to the side to find Alec creeping about slowly.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped.

He stiffened, but was obviously better at concealment that she realized, because he didn't jump in surprise. "Hey, Max," he said, "I didn't know you were gonna be here…I, uh, just wanted to, uh…"

She sat up from Joshua's couch, where she had planned on staying all night. Especially after her encounter with White. She had needed to be around family after finding out what White really was. She had needed comfort.

Not annoyance.

"Well?" she demanded.

He finally turned around, a rag wrapped around his hand. Max realized that he was standing in front of one of Joshua's paintings, and he had a bottle of some sort of paint remover in the other hand.

"Is that the painting with my papers?" she asked.

Alec opened his mouth as if to say something, but instead frowned heavily. He put the bottle down and unwound the cloth from his hand as he moved towards her.

"What happened to you?" he demanded.

Max puckered her brows together, and then gasped lightly, as she realized that he must be seeing the bruises from her run-in with White and his loon goons. All she wanted to do was help Wendy and Ray White. Instead, she found herself waist-deep in shit she couldn't even begin to understand.

She raised a hand to her swollen lips. White had almost knocked her teeth out with that board he'd slammed into her face. "It's nothing," she said quickly, not looking him in the eye.

He pursed his lips thoughtfully, then turned around and walked away. Max sighed with relief, glad that Alec wasn't fussing. She didn't want to make a big deal about it, but she was actually in pain. It was rare for her to hurt like this, but she had never gone against…whatever White and his men were.

She stared at the canvas in front of her, at all the paint over the scientist's scribbles. Most of it was beyond any possibility of salvage. Suddenly, she was filled with a sense of hopelessness. The cure was gone. The last set of clues to finding it was now stuck to a canvas of artsy splatters. How sad was that?

"Here."

She was startled out of her misery when Alec handed her a crumpled small towel. She eyed it curiously but didn't accept it. "What's that?"

"Ice."

"Oh." Gingerly, she reached for the towel, but just as she did so, the blanket slid to her waist, exposing all the scratches and bruises on her arm. She sensed Alec stiffen at the sight, but he didn't say anything gushy that would have made her cringe.

Instead his lips twisted into a small smile. "Guess I should have brought you a whole bucket."

She couldn't help but chuckle quietly at that. "Yeah, I guess."

He was gone again in the next instant, leaving Max to carefully apply the cold towel onto her lip. He came back a few minutes later with more ice and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. "You might need this too."

He didn't offer to help, and she didn't need him to. She took the antiseptic and went to work cleaning her wound. "I got into a fight today with some pretty tough guys," she whispered. "Got my ass handed to me."

He pursed his lips, and his brows crinkled slightly in the middle. "Who?"

"White," she said, looking him in the eye. "If the cops hadn't come…" she didn't finish the thought. She shook her head and looked away.

He nodded but didn't press her for more information; she was grateful, because she had hardly registered it herself. He just stayed with her the rest of the night.

Max woke up a few hours later, her shark DNA kicking in. She blinked sleepy eyes and looked around her. She could distinctly hear Joshua's deep, heavy breathing in the next room. She saw Alec, his long, lean body folded uncomfortably on the reclining chair across from her, sleeping soundly. She saw the small bucket of ice that was now just water by the couch on the floor. Then she saw the canvas with the cure papers painted over.

There was a message here. Like the universe was trying to tell her something. But she was too tired to connect the dots right now. So she buried herself in her little spot on the couch and went back to sleep, a small smile on her face.

8. A No-Brainer

"You know, I never really noticed but…he's actually kinda magnificent."

He took the words right out of her mouth. The exact same words she had said to Brain just before he died. A tear started to roll down her face. "Yeah. He was."

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

"For what?"

Alec shoved his hands into his pockets, his eyes were on the men who were moving furniture in and out of Brain's old apartment, Alec's new one. Max heard him sigh deeply. "I'm not sure. He was one of…us. And well, now he's gone, too."

But Max understood. Their family was less one.

1. It's Not All Right

Alec smiled widely at her after a short pause. "I'm always all right," he grinned, then walked past her and out of Jam Pony. Max stood where she was for a moment, a small smile on her face.

She was proud of him for being strong enough to be all right. Even if he had to pretend and lie through his teeth.

But at the same time, deeply disappointed that he didn't need her help. Because strangely enough, she wanted to help. And she really thought she could, too.

2. Stolen Time

She was upset at time wasted. Because time wasted ultimately meant time lost. And time lost for a moment was time lost for good.

Max sat in the old convertible in the junkyard for what seemed like an eternity, feeling a sense of numbness seeping into her bones. She hadn't been able to say that she had loved him, too. Not to Logan's face. She couldn't make the words come out.

Not until he was gone.

"I love you, too." And somehow, the whispered words seemed hollow and insignificant in the face of all the time she'd wasted and lost with Logan. The meaning lost because she could no longer remember a time when they did.

She felt the car shift slightly to the right as Alec hopped over the side doors gracefully. He sat next to her, leaning his forearms on his knees.

"You okay?" he asked hesitantly.

She sighed heavily, not even able to muster enough annoyance to blow him off like she usually did whenever he tried to butt into her life.

He scratched his head lightly, and grimaced as it came away with some of the goo stuff from the Gossamer. She smiled lightly as she recalled the excuses he had made to explain the creature. Alec was good; she had to give him that much credit. He could roll with the punches and hit the ground running—never once missing a beat. She could almost count on him to always figure a way out of all kinds of trouble. Almost.

"So, the cure…wasn't really a cure, after all."

"Obviously."

"So, what're you gonna do now?"

She turned to face him, her mind reeling with the possibility that she and Logan may have actually used up all the time that they had for each other. It left her feeling both scared and empty, but also strangely relieved. "I don't know," she replied honestly.

He nodded. "There's still hope. I mean you got your 12 hours, next time, you might get more…or it could be permanent," he reassured her, although his voice seemed just as hollow and forced as hers had been.

She shook her head, not knowing if she could take another blow like missing another 12-hour window. "I don't know if I can wait for that...if it's worth…this."

He looked at her, his face softening. "Well, I think some things are just worth waiting forever for. Even when time doesn't wait for us. There are things worth that gamble."

He smiled tentatively at her, and then he hopped off the car, leaving it shaking, just like Max's world felt at the moment. And she was left wondering just exactly what it was Alec was waiting for.

TBC

A/N2: Next few snippets will be in Chapter 2. Obviously, you need some kind of background info on each episode to really understand what's going on in each missing scene. I just hope I gave enough clues all throughout.