Reliving Manticore

Disclaimer-I don't own anything that can be found on Dark Angel. The only things I own are some of the transgenics and the parts of the storyline that I make up. So don't sue!

Summary-Max was captured at the end of season 1 but in my story she wasn't shot in the heart and Zack didn't shoot himself, but he was captured as well. And Max never escaped or burned Manticore down. So basically this story is about Max being back at Manticore with missions, transgenics and all. M/L at first but it will become M/A.

A/N-So sorry it's been a while...School got hectic and I couldn't quite figure out what to write...I hope this chapter makes up for it. Keep in mind that it takes place a few months after Max and Alec joined Special Ops...enjoy!

Chapter Nine-What Else is New?

"So why aren't we figuring out an escape plan, again?" Zack asked, perplexed. Max smiled.

"Because I can't leave everyone else here," she explained. Zack just looked at her. "What? Haven't the others been telling you about what happened to them after we escaped?" Zack's gaze dropped.

"Of course. It took a while to gain their trust," he said softly. Max nodded.

"What else is new?" Max joked. "In order to keep the trust, we can't just gallop off in to the sunset saying 'hey thanks for the brainwashing but we belong where the people aren't trained to kill other people with a toothpick'." Zack smiled.

"So when do you think we should head out?" he asked. Max rolled her eyes.

"Relax big brother. We'll figure something out," she said, patting his head. He narrowed his eyes playfully. "And while you work on that, I'm late for a little 'get together' with some friends of mine." With that, Max gave Zack a quick hug and then took off down the hall. He shook his head and headed in the opposite direction.

And I wonder who those 'friends' could be...he thought sarcastically.

Common Room...

"Honey I'm hoooome," Max called as she entered the room.

"Max!" 7 voices chorused. Cindy and Blake rushed to hug her.

"How ya been, suga?" Cindy asked. Max shrugged.

"I'm okay. How are you guys?" she asked. Her question was answered with a groan.

"We've missed you, Max," Blake said.

"What about Alec?" Max asked as she joined the other transgenics at the pool table.

"He's not as pretty as you. No matter what he may think or tell himself," Biggs answered with a smirk. The others laughed.

"Hey! That's not nice," Alec's voice called from the doorway. "Or true."

"Well lookie lookie here. Finally decided to grace us with ya presence?" Cindy asked as she folded her arms across her chest. Alec put his hand to his heart and feigned a look of hurt.

"Was last week not soon enough for your Nubian Princess?" he smirked. Max's mouth fell open.

"You saw them last week and you didn't tell me?" she growled. She blurred to his side and punched his shoulder. "You are such an ass. You were supposed to tell me when we could visit them." Alec rubbed his shoulder tenderly.

"I couldn't find you," he lied. Max narrowed her eyes. "What, like I have to tell you everywhere I go?" Max just looked at him pointedly. "Yeah yeah, I know. 'You are entitled to know my whereabouts if they have anything to do with Unit 6'," he recited. Max smiled.

"Good boy," she said as she ruffled his hair. Alec smirked.

"Nice to reach your expectations," he said as he tried to fixed his hair. Max just rolled her eyes.

"So what's your new unit like?" Natalie asked. Max's face lit up immediately.

"I'll take that as a good sign," Nick said as he settled himself in a chair. Max plopped down on the sofa.

"Zack's the CO," she blurted out. Alec rolled his eyes as the other transgenics fell silent.

"Ya big bro, Zack?" Cindy asked, eyes wide.

"One and only," Max answered, grinning.

"So that's why he was never in the mess hall," Lana said. "What's he look like?" Blake shot her a look. "What? I'm just curious."

"Max already told you what he looks like. About Alec's height, if not taller," Biggs said. Alec frowned at that. "And he's blonde."

"Yeah but she didn't give the exact details, did she?" Lana countered. Max laughed.

"Well, he is about Alec's height," Max began, glancing at Alec. He smirked back. "I think he's taller, though. More muscular." Alec glared at her. She smiled sweetly. "Blue eyes, short blonde hair. It used to hang around his ears but I guess it was cut sometime after we were recaptured. His eyes are softer than they used to be, too. And it feels weird saying this, you know since he's my brother and all..." Max had been watching Alec when she was talking about Zack and she noticed how his eyes darkened with each adjective so she figured she'd have a little fun with it. "He's much cuter than I remembered. He's even better looking than Alec." The others laughed, all knowing what Max was doing, but Alec just glowered at her.

"Ooh, I wanna meet him! I wanna meet him!" Lana called out. Blake and Alec both turned to look at her. "What? He sounds..." she realized that she was talking about Max's brother and shut her mouth. Max laughed.

"You guys wanna meet the others?" she asked. They nodded eagerly. "Alrighty. Come with me and I'll introduce you."

Gym...

"So she went to visit her old unit?" 726 asked. He was sparring with Zack.

"Yep. She hasn't seen 'em in a while, I guess," Zack answered as he ducked a punch and delivered a roundhouse kick.

"Well now I've seen 'em and they'd like to meet you people," Max's voice said. The Special Ops unit turned to look at her and the other transgenics that followed her in. "Here they are folks, best of the best. Unless you count Alec," she added jokingly. Alec rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall.

"So introduce us already, Maxie," Zack said as he and the others joined Unit 6. Max didn't protest the nickname.

"Alright. Unit 6, this is Special Ops," Max began. "This guy in front of me is the CO, also known as my brother Zack. The girl behind him with blue highlighted hair is 664, better known as Kris. If you want to know about her hair, she got it done on the outside and Manticore didn't bother to tell her to change it back. The tall guy next to her is 605, real name Sean. The guy with blonde hair next to him is 726, also known as Evan. The girl with brown hair next to him is 512, better known as Jessica. The blonde girl behind Evan is 474, real name Valerie. It took while to think of their names. Whattya think?"

"I think I'd like to know the names of Unit 6," Kris replied.

"Oh right," Max said. "This is Cindy, Lana, Natalie, Justine, Blake, Nick, and Biggs." she pointed each one out.

"Alright, now that everyone knows everyone, I'm gonna head out," Alec said, standing up and heading for the door. Max excused herself and followed him out.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked when she caught up with him. Alec smirked.

"Why? Already missing me?" he asked. Max scoffed but found her face reddening slightly.

"Well, I just figured we could all hang out together. New with old, ya know?" she said, running her hands through her hair, trying to get her blood flow to stop rushing to her cheeks. Alec shrugged.

"And do what?" he asked.

"I dunno," Max answered lamely. Alec laughed.

"What else is new?" he said. Max scowled and punched his shoulder.

"First, ow," Alec said as he once again rubbed his shoulder. "And second, I was only kidding. Max smiled slightly.

"I know, you're just so hittable," she said. Alec smiled back.

"I'm loveable and kissable, too," he said innocently. Max raised her fist and he put his hands. "By denying your feelings you're only making it harder on yourself." Then he took off down the hall with Max following.

"Nuh uh! No insulting me without a little payback!" Max called. She caught up with him outside the Common room and tackled him. "There, payback has been paid." Alec grinned and flipped her over so he was straddling her chest.

"But I still win," he said. Max just looked at him. "What?" Then he found himself in the same position she had been. Max bent her head to whisper in his ear.

"Nuh uh," she purred. Alec swallowed as her voice sent shivers down his spine. He turned his head to look at her. Their faces were barely an inch apart. Alec's gaze fell to her full lips. She noticed the direction of his eyes and slowly moved closer. Both parted their lips slightly.

"Well this is an interesting sight," Evan's voice made them spring apart. Max flexed her hands nervously while Alec scratched the back of his head, both afraid to look at each other. Evan just smirked. "Didn't mean to interrupt..."

"You weren't interrupting!" the two transgenics cried out. They glanced at each other and then back to Evan. He laughed softly.

"Well, as I was saying, the others are looking for you guys. Unit 6 wanted to say good bye before they had to go to the training field but they couldn't find you so they left. We got a new mission that we have to go over. So Zack's asking that you come to the Special Ops cells so we can figure out what we're doing," Evan explained, still smiling. Max and Alec nodded and followed him out the door, keeping a respectable distance from each other.

Oh. My. God. Did I almost kiss Alec? Max panicked. What is wrong with me? How could I let that happen? How did that happen? Crap, how am I supposed to talk him now? It's gonna be all awkward and embarrassing. He probably thinks I'm some weirdo spaz or something. God, how could I be so stupid?! She didn't realize that Alec was having the exact same thoughts. Both were interrupted when they reached their cells.

"So what's this new mission?" Max asked as soon as she sat down.

"Looks like it'll have to be undercover mission," Zack answered. "Someone captured a transgenic. They haven't figured out what he is yet but they're planning on selling him on the black market. We have to find out where they're keeping him, do a little recon, rescue the transgenic and then it's back to good ol' Manticore."

"Do we know the transgenic's barcode?" Kris asked. Zack stiffened but shook his head.

"Not exactly," he shot Max a look. "We have an idea that we got from the listed description. About 5'5", brown eyes, short brown hair, wore green army fatigues when he was captured about a year ago..." he looked at Max again and her stomach clenched.

Brown hair, green army fatigues, captured a year ago...Oh god, she thought.

"Wait," Sean said, frowning, "He's been held captive for almost a year and the people still haven't figured out what he is? And why did it take so long for him to actually be considered to be put on the black market?" Zack shrugged.

"I guess he was being shipped around for a while, different people with different theories. Let's just be thankful that he hasn't been sold and go get him back," he said. The others nodded and the females stood up to go to their own cell.

"Wait," Max's voice was hoarse and sounded like it hadn't been used in years. "When are we leaving?"

Zack looked at her. His eyes were full of pain and concern. He had reached the same conclusion that she had about the captured transgenic. "Tomorrow," he said softly. Max nodded and swiftly left the cell. The other females followed. Alec just stared after her. He had noticed her become suddenly tense when Zack had read off the description. What had caused it?

"Hey Max," Jessica said as the females settled down in their cots. "Why'd you get so tense in there?" She and the others had also noticed her behavior.

"Krit," Max's voice cracked as tears slid down her face. "The captured transgenic is my brother Krit."

A/N-I hope you liked this. I'll try to update sooner, but it might be a week or two because I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed tomorrow...not exactly looking forward to it...Anyways, review please! ;o)

lakergirl08-I didn't want him to be too serious so I figured I'd have him just accept that he's back at Manticore...for now...He won't have loving feelings for Max besides the obvious sibling love, so he'll still be a little overprotective, but in a good way.

XxInsanityxX-Thanks a lot. I wanted Zack to be a little protective and for Alec to jealous of his and Max's relationship, guess it worked...hehe. ;o)

Guest type person-Thanks, cool phrase. ;o) I hope this had enough Max and Alec action to tide you over. Keep reviewing!