A/N: Hi! Thanks for reading! Thanks to anyone who followed me this far, and thanks to anyone who clicked on this for some strange reason...

SORRY THIS IS SO LATE! I've been stuck without WiFi for DAYS. For a girl who was born in 2001 and has had technology within reach at all times her entire life, that's pretty terrifying.

Sorry for any typos I didn't catch. You know how cats love to walk on keyboards.

But why do they like to walk on keyboard, though?

This is me, guys. Asking the real questions...

I hope you all enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Angel or any of the characters within.

Max watched as Joshua helped two other transgenics drag a huge Christmas tree into Terminal City. Alec stood beside her, wondering why on Earth she was enforcing Christmas in TC this year.

"So...why are we doing this again?" Alec asked, thinking he was probably, most likely in the right.

Max sent him a glare, then walked off toward the struggling transgenics. "Because I think everyone needs something else to think about right now, something other than the constant threat of the police or our good friend Ames," she answered, directing traffic around the rather large tree.

"Set it over there," she told Joshua, pointing toward a corner that everyone had to pass on the way to the mess hall. Joshua pushed the tree upright against the wall with some struggle. Alec sighed, then pushed himself off the wall. He took hold of the tree on the other side and helped Joshua set it up against the wall.

Max smiled at Joshua, ignoring Alec completely, which he thought a little unfair. "Nice job Big Fella."

"T-thanks, Little Fella."

"Hey, I helped too!" Alec protested.

"You're not in the Christmas spirit," Max called over her shoulder as she walked away, probably on her way to find Logan or something.

"That's bull," Alec muttered, turning in the opposite direction to get some food from the mess hall. As he ate his lunch, he thought about all he knew of Christmas. Gift-giving was a big thing. Usually the gift would be something meaningful to the person it was given to.

What would Max want? If Alec had to do Christmas, then he wanted to get something for her. He thought for a moment, then...

Alec knew what he wanted to do for Max. The only trouble was where to get the item.

Three days later on Christmas Eve...

Max was sitting at her table as usual in the mess hall, eating breakfast and going over reports of scouting trips done by other transgenics and inventories of their current lists of supplies for everything.

Alec approached from behind her back, knowing that she would he was there anyway. Max was one of the best, despite being outside Manticore far longer than most.

"What do you want, Alec?" She asked, proving his theory.

Instead of answering, Alec jumped over the table to the other side, sat down on the bench and plopped his wrapped gift down on the table in front of her.

"What's this?" Max asked, her eyebrows going up.

"What's it look like?"

"Answer the question, smart-Alec."

"My God, you're oh-so-clever using my name as an insult like that," Alec scoffed. "With that attitude, I kinda just want to take it away and not give it to you til next year."

A smirk touched her lips, and her hand snuck out and grabbed it before his purposefully much slower hand could. "What did you get me?"

Alec rolled his eyes. "Weren't you supposed to be the expert on Christmas here? You are the one making us celebrate, after all. If you really knew that much about this holiday, you would know that it's for me to know and you to find out, so just open the damn thing, will you?"

Max gave him a look, then slid a finger under the wrapping. She was taking more time than she needed to open it, and she knew it. Alec complained. "Come on! Just open it!"

"You are officially too invested in this holiday," Max told him, preceding to pull of the paper at normal speed.

"No, I really just want you to see what I got you."

Setting the paper aside, Max opened the box and found...a syringe?

"What's this?" She asked in surprise.

"Oh gee, I wonder what on Earth you could possibly want that would be in a syringe. What indeed, Max. What could it be?"

She looked at him from across the table in astonishment. "There's no need to be so sarcastic about it."

His features softened. "You're right, sorry."

Max gingerly lifted the needle from it's box. "The cure," she said softly. "I can't believe we finally have it." A smile covered her face, washing away the past year of stress of governing an entire city of transgenics, a year of not being able to even hold the hand of the man she loved. Alec smiled too, deciding he preferred a happy Max, not a stressed one.

Max looked away from the syringe, placing it back in it's box. She gave Alec one of those penetrating stares of hers.

"How did you get this?"

Alec shrugged nonchalantly. "I left TC three days ago, asking Joshua to cover for me. I don't know what he said, but you didn't even notice I was gone, so I think it must have been good. I tracked down that doctor from Manticore, the one you were using before." He paused, brow furrowing. "The one you gave thousands of dollars that could have been used to pay for your cure, instead to pull that bomb out of my neck. Thanks for that, by the way. Anyway, I tracked him down and basically held him captive and threatened him with bodily harm unless he made the serum. That made him work pretty fast. Then I came back here. I just arrived this morning."

Max bit her lip. "I can't believe I really didn't notice you were gone for three days."

"Yeah, about that. What did Joshua tell you?"

She glanced at him, hiding a smile. "Believe me when I tell you, you might not wanna know."

"And believe me when I say, I wanna know."

Max hesitated, clearly on the verge of laughing. "He said you were holed up in some room with some guy called Cas."

Alec choked. "Guy?"

"Yep."

"And you believed him?"

"One: aren't you glad I did? 'Cause I am. Two: no offense, Alec, but do seem kinda gay."

"I do not!"

"Just ask Original Cindy. She thinks so too."

"I'm not gay!" Alec stood up started walking away from the table, steaming. He wasn't gay.

"Alec!" Max called from behind him. He turned in time to see her jump over the table and rush toward him. Him being Alec and she being Max, Alec half expected her to punch him. But instead she did the most unexpected thing possible. She hugged him.

"Thank you, Alec." She said after pulling back and looking him in the eyes. "Thank you so much."

Alec smiled back. "You're welcome. You should know, the doctor said to wait at least twenty-four hours before touching Logan. Give your cells time to adjust and all that, just in case."

Max nodded. "Better take it now then, huh?" She sat back down at the table and pulled up her sleeve, pulled the syringe from the box and the lid off the needle. Oh-so carefully, Max slid the needle into her arm and pressed down.

She hopped up again. "Great. So. Twenty-four hours?" Max asked.

Alec nodded.

"Right then. See you later, smart-ass." With that, she picked up the papers she was looking at earlier and walked away.

Alec smiled then walked in the other direction toward his dorm, where they may or may not have been a guy called Cas waiting.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Next part should be coming soon, in the Bones section, I should think.

Bye ;3