Title: Discovering Her Destiny : Tempting the Fates

Disclaimer: If I owned Alec, do you think that I'd give him to Max?

Summary: The Fates weave the threads that lead people to their destiny. They've led Max astray before, but perhaps this time she's found her soulmate.

Pairings: Max and Alec. If any two people were destined/designed to be together, it would be them. (And I've only watched 1 episode!)

Setting: 2023

Spoilers: Anything and Everything from both the show's seasons can pop up somewhere. I have only just begun to watch Season 2 myself - Designate This aired on the 22 March, so if I'm not totally accurate; just know it's because I must've read the transcript wrong or something, and TELL me that it's wrong, so that I can FIX it!



Chapter 1: Quit Playing Games With My Heart.

'It's amazing what can happen in three years.' Max thought as she sat on the top of the Seattle Space Needle. Her life had jumped like a leapfrog from painful situation to painful situation - each a step and hurdle which had led her to this moment. Maybe now she could finally move on with her life.

Nothing had been the same with Logan and her after she had come back from Manticore. They had kissed, and he had even told her that he loved her; but there had been something missing on both sides. The chemistry that had previously sparkled between them just wasn't there. It had taken the entire year, but they had both eventually realized that their love story had come to an end before it really started. Their friendship was still intact. Logan had moved on with Asha; and the two were so perfect together, that nobody could doubt that they were the very definition of destiny.

As for HER love life...

Max smiled. The past year had been the most beautiful that she had ever experienced. It was if the Fates were compensating her for the depressing year that she and Logan had before they broke up. After their separation, it was as if she had been given a light in a dark room, and she could see the relationship for what it really was: Respect. Friendship. Trust. It was as if she could see in color again - like the first time she experienced life outside Manticore. She was released. The strain of having to officially be in a non-contact relationship had made her an irritable and bitter person. She always used to take out all of her frustration on poor Alec. After the separation, she recognized that he had done more than relieve her tension. Being with him used to be a balm for her saddened soul. They always floated towards eachother - like the Fates were setting them up. Now she and Alec even lived together. But the Fates had thrown her and Logan together - only to pull them apart just as things were going right. Max had never believed in fate or destiny, but now she was a devout follower. To her, even the Blue Lady couldn't compete with the Fates when it came to playing Max like a puppet. If Max had a guarantee that the rest of her life was going to be half as good as the last year had been, then she didn't mind a little supernatural meddling. But as it was, Max had no such guarantee, and she wished that she could be consulted before her life took another sharp corner. Things with Alec were going so great, but she knew better than to think that it would last. When the time came, Max would let him go with dignity. That he had stayed so long with her was nothing short of a miracle.

"Hey." said a voice behind Max, startling her out of her reverie.

"Alec." she replied with a grin.

"Where were you just now? You didn't even hear me coming up! I've been watching you dreaming for a whole minute." He was chuckling.

"I was just thinking...."

"About me? C'mon! Admit it! I saw that smile on your face!"

"I was thinking about how my life has changed so much."

"I think about how my life's changed too. Beautiful night, isn't it?" he asked, looking at their moonlit view of the slumbering city.

Max wondered what he had thought about the changes in his life - since a lot of those were due to her.

"Yeah..."

He cut her off before she could say another word.

"Max, I love you."

Max was delighted. It always thrilled her when he said that.

"I love you too."

He smiled. Then he pulled out a little box from the pocket of his jacket.

"Will you marry me?"