AN: Okay, so this one has ˜cough˜ my first attempt at an erotic scene. Not supposed to be heavy, because it's too early. If anybody has any advice to give – more than welcome. Actually I insist you do.

Rated M – sex, violence & coarse language. You have been warned.

Disclaimer: Yes I own dark angel. That's why I'm writing fanfic. Because I find my own ideas so disappointing. Shutup!

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Sweat, skin, heat. A press of fingers along her spine. Soft murmurs and strong arms pulling her closer. Lips parted as he trailed kisses along her jaw and his mouth found hers in barely restrained madness, leaving her tangled in every breath, touch, scent. Fingers slid along the outline of muscle against darkness and up the back of the neck, gripping hair as he teased. Her body moved against his trying to get closer, trying to ease the burn.

Then she felt him. Gentle against her walls as he pushed inside. She gasped. Her back arched and hands moved over her breasts and to her back. Every inch consumed in slick heat. Warm lips pressed against her nipple and his tongue traced the areola. She whimpered and rocked against him. His body filled hers, every part of him, of her wanted, needed. It was dying and becoming more alive. The rhythm increasing and pressure building inside her filling the air with whimpers and moans. Rocking became violent thrusts. She couldn't breathe. All she could do was cry his name over and over, until pleasure took that too and she shattered. A sound more animal than human left her mouth and she sunk against him. Content to just feel.

She nuzzled into his neck and breathed in the scent of sex and something purely him. "Max" he whispered, and she tilted her head, his mouth meeting hers. He pulled back and brushed sweat-soaked hair off her face. "We're not done yet." He whispered and the look in his hazel eyes sent another shock of pleasure rippling through her body.

"Alec!" Max cried as she woke up. She opened her eyes and realized she had fallen asleep against his chest. His arm wrapped tightly around her waist, the other holding her loosely at the thigh.

"You dreaming about me Max?" he murmured and she looked up at his half closed eyes.

Guess he fell asleep too, she thought. He kept staring and she realized he expected an answer. "No. White." She lied.

"You said my name." He lifted his arm and she untangled herself, moving back to her seat.

"He shot you"

"Figures" he mumbled and stretched, yawning.

"If you lovebirds are done wasting the hours, you might want to know there'll be a detour on our trip to Disneyland." Mole drawled from the drivers seat.

"What happened to Sketchy?"

"I killed him." Alec froze and Mole gave him a hurt look. "I was only kidding. Damn human started dozing off six hours in. You guys were sleeping so I took over."

Max moved forward and saw Sketchy slumped in the passenger seat with his cap over his face. A trail of drool dripping from his open mouth.

Mole chuckled. "Clooney he is not." He caught her wrist. "I see those haven't gone away."

Max looked down at the runes. "No war. White's still alive and kicking. We stopped translating them after we got married. Logan…" she swallowed. "Logan said they'd probably go away with time. They never did."

"So what's this detour?" Alec leaned back and rested his feet against the back of Mole's chair.

"Transgenic in Denver. Should be a quick pick and drop. We're the closest so I said we'd get it."

"I don't understand. I thought everyone split up after Terminal City?"

The curious look on Alec's face was making her nervous and she wondered if he knew she was lying about the dream. "We did. But they didn't stop hunting us, and some started to miss the action. Safe houses started turning up where transgenics could group together. Safety in numbers and all that. There isn't just one place anymore. There are houses across the continent. The closest one to Denver is Salt Lake City, Utah. Means some back tracking but should be okay."

She rubbed her fingers over the runes as if they'd somehow disappear. "White's got to be tracking us though. Who would they be running from?"

"Humans, Manticore mutts, cops, reporters, groupies, gangsters, ex-girlfriends…take your pick."

Mole grunted agreement. "Then there are cases like this one, where they just can't take the real world on their own. This guy's X6. He's been shacked up with an X5 who took care of him until the half-breed got himself shot. The boy's been on his own for five months now and doing okay. But there are rumors of anti-transgenic groups spreading to the area and he doesn't want to be there when they do."

"So what, you go in there and play hero?" She scoffed.

"The only other game we were taught was villain" Alec shot back.

She caught his eyes. "Sorry" she mumbled.

"Whatever, Max." He stopped and looked out the window before snapping back to her. "You left us Max. Just because you went away didn't mean the problems did. What we do might not seem like much to Mrs Logan Cale but we do what we have to. Not everyone had a millionaire to pay for our survival."

"Alec!" Max watched him visibly calm at Joshua's voice.

"No. It's okay Joshua. It's the truth." She called back and turned to her window. The truth didn't hurt any less.

"Look Maxie, I'm sorry. I was just…"

"Telling the truth."

"Yeah, I was." He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "But it's not your fault. You did leave, and a lot of people relied on you." She winced at the resentment in his tone. "But one person can't hold everything together. The way things are now, the problems we have to deal with, they don't fall on your shoulders. I was just being an ass."

"You're good at it." She turned to him and he smiled back.

"Yeah"

"You guys, I'm tearing up here"

"Shut-up Mole"

"Glad to have you back princess."

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Lan shuffled his feet nervously against the bitumen. The anti-tran groups had come a couple of hours before and it wouldn't take them long to assemble a team to 'clean' the area. Because genetically engineered perfection was so much dirtier than alternative. Where are they?

He pulled the leather jacket higher on his shoulders, hoping nobody would notice the faint barcode lines reforming under the dark brown hair. With the hate so thick on the streets, he hadn't been able to have it removed without arousing suspicion. Though even if he had been able to find a place, now that Mix was dead he wasn't sure he'd be able to do it. The last guy he'd gone to had been shot in some door-to-door riot months ago.

He tensed as his senses picked up a group of three teens heading his way. Shit! A hand gripped his shoulder and spun him around. Stay calm. "Is there a problem?"

The boy smirked. "Just looked like you could use some help"

"I'm fine."

"Sure you are. Because, that's the way you were made isn't it?"

"Huh?"

"Don't tell me you don't remember Manticore"

Lan mentally gulped and shoved his hands in his pockets, tilting his head to the side. "Can't remember what didn't happen."

The boy opened his mouth to say something and stopped at the sound of angry people. "Shit!" he said.

Lan backed away as the protesters moved towards them. There were only twelve, but five were holding rifles and they were coming to them at all sides. Escape would be impossible. Well, if ya gotta go, go down fighting. He shrugged off his jacket and took fighting position, watching in shock as the teens did the same. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Name's Dalton. This is Kit and Gaia. We're X6's"

"I thought Alec would be picking me up"

Dalton's eyes lit. "Alec's coming?"

"Mole picked up the call."

"Ah. Well, we weren't sent. We don't go in for the search and rescue thing."

The guns cocked and Dalton signed the attack. Lan blurred forward and swept the gun out of the hands of a man with a Mohawk and knocked him off his feet, moving to the next gun wielder. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Gaia doing the same to a woman with long black hair. He flew around, unseeing as he attacked everyone he saw. He heard gunfire, but it wasn't directed at him so one of the others must have decided to handle things the easy way. He snapped the neck of the grey-haired woman in front of him and twisted around to punch the person behind him. Instead, his fist hit Dalton's palm.

"They're down." He said and smiled.

Lan walked back to the centre and kicked a dead guy off his jacket. Pulling it back on he turned to assess the group. Dalton was down the road, Gaia was adjusting her long red ponytail, and Kit was emptying pockets.

"Here they come" Dalton mused and everyone turned to look at the road.

A large van sped down the road and Lan ran back in the other direction, convinced it was going crash. Dalton stood still ."Bloody loon" he muttered with a grin. The Junker stopped three inches from his face. A door opened and Alec jumped out. Dalton ran towards him and jumped up, knocking them both to the ground.

"Dalton, buddy! Didn't expect you would be here. Why aren't you out causing trouble with those other two derelicts." He looked at the bodies on the ground. "Never mind."

"Hey, it was totally self-defense." Dalton got to his feet and helped Alec up.

"Sure it was."

"Hi Dalton" Max said, exiting the Junker.

Dalton's eyes narrowed. "What's she doing here."

"Logan's evil and trying to kill her."

He turned around and walked sulkily back to Gaia and Kit. Max frowned and took a couple of steps back into Joshua's arms.

"So, that would make you our pick-up?" Alec said.

"Lan"

"What's your training Lan?"

He shrugged. "Standard stuff I guess. They were centering my training around communications."

"Solo ops."

"Guess so. Eventually"

"'Kay then. The nearest safe house is in Salt Lake City. Do you want us to take you, or are you joining the plague upon mankind" he gestured to the three X6's.

Lan glanced at Dalton. Dalton shrugged. "You can come with us if you want, but it's not the clean cut lifestyle you get in a safe house. We take a more aggressive approach to transgenic suppression."

"They travel around killing people." Alec piped.

Lan looked around at the mess they'd made. The black and white T-shirts with hateful slogans, and the guns with built in sensors. He glanced at Alec and he just nodded his head and turned back to the van. "I'm going with you" he called after him. Alec turned genuinely shocked and Lan shrugged with a small smile. "I'm not Manticore."

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