Title: Movie Magic

Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get…complicated. MA.

Spoilers: Takes place sometime after "Love Among The Runes," but before "Freak Nation."

Disclaimer: Dark Angel still isn't mine…and they tried to make me give Alec back! *sniff* They didn't get him though. *grin*

A/N: I'm so sorry this took me a little longer than I thought it would to post! Yesterday wound up very busy, and today I was catching up on work I didn't get done yesterday, lol. I hope that this next chapter will make up for it. :)

To my anonymous reviewers:

Alec's Angel: Thank you very much! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the action scenes! And I know it was a cliffhanger…but it was just such a good spot! *blushes*

Mona: Thank you! Lol, okay, I admit, there might have been a cackle or two here and there. ;)

I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter, and please let me know what you think!

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Movie Magic

Alec had never blurred so fast in his life.

He didn't think, just knocked out the soldier he'd been fighting and ran. He knew that he was too far away to keep the other soldier from firing, but he could get between Max and the bullet.

Alec stopped in front of her just before a familiar, searing pain ripped through his leg. The injured limb gave out, sending him to the ground. He grit his teeth, and locked his arms, catching himself before he went down completely. Max was still feeling the affects of the cattle-prod, and right now, he was the only one who could really move. And, well…admittedly, he hadn't thought much about what he'd do after getting between Max and the guy with the gun.

The guy with the gun didn't have the same problem, though, and he'd apparently gotten over the shock of seeing Alec blur out of nowhere. He raised the gun once more, taking aim at Alec this time.

Alec pushed himself up from the ground, careful to stay in front of Max. He was trying to figure out if tackling the soldier would make him more or less likely to get shot again, when he saw another blur of movement out of the corner of his eye.

The tiger-woman.

She attacked the soldier, roaring in fury, and he screamed, frantically trying to get away as she pulled him to the floor.

He wouldn't be getting back up.

Alec grimaced and turned around, shifting a little as he tried to keep the weight off his bad leg.

"You okay?" he asked Max.

She was watching him with wide eyes, a strange expression on her face. It took her a minute, but finally, she nodded.

"Yeah. Help me up," she demanded.

Alec held out his hand to her. He could feel her muscles shaking as she gripped his wrist, but she managed to stay on her feet once she got there. She still looked kind of unsteady though, and her gaze was unfocused.

"Max?" he asked again. "You sure you're okay?"

She jumped a little, like he'd startled her. She looked up at him then, and her eyes narrowed suddenly.

"That guy could have killed you."

Alec blinked, surprised.

"Well, yeah, but I'm pretty sure he tried to kill you first. I just got in the way."

"Don't do that again!" Max snapped.

Alec was about to say that if she could avoid almost getting shot at close range, he wouldn't have to, but something in her voice stopped him. On the surface, she sounded like she usually did -- annoyed, angry -- but there was something else beneath that. She almost sounded…scared.

But why would she be scared? She'd been in worse situations before, and it wasn't like-

A loud crash sounded at the back of the hanger, and Alec spun, automatically falling into a fighting stance. In retrospect, it probably didn't look all that threatening, since he was leaning heavily on his good leg, and Max was still swaying on her feet beside him.

But, if Rodriguez and his men had gotten in through the emergency exit, it probably wouldn't matter what shape they were in. They'd be trapped.

Heavy footsteps sounded down the corridor. A second later, soldiers appeared, and…one of them resembled a giant, chain-smoking lizard.

Alec let himself relax.

"What took you so long? And why didn't you use the comm?"

"Had a welcoming committee to deal with," Mole answered, pointedly resting the barrel of his sawed-off on his shoulder. "Didn't have time to stop n' chat."

Alec let his eyes flicker over Mole and the others as they spread out through the warehouse, taking care of the few soldiers that remained. Mole and Lena looked battered but they seemed okay. Tally was limping a little, though, and Reese had gash on his temple.

"You still in one piece?" he asked, turning back to Mole.

"Yeah. Why, disappointed?"

Alec snorted.

"I'll get over it," he shrugged, then winced. Mole noticed, and scowled at him.

"What happened to you?" he demanded, looking down at Alec's leg. Alec opened his mouth to answer, but Max beat him to it.

"He jumped in front of a bullet," she said, throwing a quick glare Alec's way. "Now, hurry up, we have to get out of here."

With that, she turned and headed for the corridor. The others followed behind her, and Garret jumped down from the crates he'd been using. He had a bullet-graze on one arm, but looked alright otherwise. Alec realized he probably owed the guy a thank you for keeping the other guards busy. He'd been so focused on Max, he hadn't thought about much else.

Max.

Alec frowned. He was used to her berating him for doing something stupid, but this was different. It wasn't like he'd 'jumped in front of a bullet' to get on her nerves. What was she so mad about?

"Well, can you walk, or am I gonna hafta carry ya?" Mole asked.

Alec blinked, shaking himself from his thoughts. Not the time, he reminded himself silently.

"I can walk."

"Good. You're in charge of her." Mole pointed at the transhuman woman, and then headed for the corridor before Alec could say anything.

Alec sighed, and turned around to find the transhuman woman a few feet away, watching him. He frowned again.

Maybe he finally understood Max's obsession with naming people. They couldn't just keep calling her "the transhuman," or "the tiger-woman" forever. She needed a name.

He paused, an idea hitting him.

Huh. It was kind of an obvious choice, but…why not? Alec waved the transhuman forward.

"Well, come on, Tiger," he said.

She blinked at him and started walking.

Getting out of the hanger was surprisingly easy…too easy, and Alec kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. The forest behind the air field was quiet, though, no sign of Rodriguez and his men. For a little while, anyway.

They spotted Rodriguez standing on the edge of the runway with his remaining men. He looked like he didn't plan on moving any time soon.

Max signaled for the group to wait, and they all stopped, crouching low. Malone was with Rodriguez, his face red with anger, fists clenched at his sides.

Apparently, he'd been summoned from the set only to be told that his transgenic prize had left the building.

"What do you mean it's gone?!" he was yelling.

"I told you, Malone. Someone broke into the hanger. They were highly trained, whoever -- or whatever -- they were." He shrugged. "Some of my men claim one of them didn't look human. Maybe they were more of those freaks."

"What are you waiting for then?! Do you realize how much money they could be worth?! Go after them!"

Rodriguez crossed his arms.

"No, I don't think I will."

Rage flared in Malone's eyes.

"When Mr. De Luca hears about this, he'll-"

"Mr. De Luca," Rodriguez interrupted, obviously enjoying himself, "is unhappy with the way you've handled this situation. You've been drawing too much attention to yourself, and that's bad for Mr. De Luca's business. If things got out of hand, he ordered me to…take care of the problem." He paused, smiling coldly. "Several of my men are dead or wounded. You wasted a lot of money moving that freak out here, and now it's gone. I'd say things have gotten out of hand, wouldn't you?"

Malone's eyes grew wide, his rage rapidly turning to fear as he realized what Rodriguez meant.

"You…you set me up!" he accused, frantically backing away. "You wanted me out of the way! You-"

A round of gunfire silenced him.

Alec grimaced.

Well, they wouldn't have to worry about Malone anymore.

He glanced at Max and she nodded.

It didn't seem like Rodriguez planned on following them, and they certainly weren't gonna complain. They signaled to the others and started moving again.

The hike back through the forest had been tense and slow, and by the time it was over, Alec's leg was complaining…loudly. But, Rodriguez had apparently been telling Malone the truth about letting them go, and aside from a lot of limping, there hadn't been any other problems reaching the vehicle Mole and the others had brought.

Alec's eyes widened a little when he saw it.

"A Brinks truck?" he asked, surprised.

Mole shrugged.

"Only thing we could find with enough room and no windows. 'Sides, it'll keep people from pokin' around in the back."

"It wasn't being used, was it?"

Mole smirked around his cigar.

"Nah, we got it from a car rental place."

Alec snorted.

He made a mental note to make sure the bank they'd gotten it from was run by a bad guy. With all the corrupt business people in Seattle, there had to be at least a few bankers on the take, right?

Mole walked over to the truck, and swung open the doors in back. He pulled out a med kit and tossed it to Lena, then took something else from the back of the truck.

Alec saw Max frown.

"What is that?" she demanded.

"What does it look like? It's a tranquilizer gun."

"For what?"

"Her," Mole answered, nodding at Tiger.

Max's gaze hardened in understanding. "No way. We're not-"

Mole spun to face her.

"Why d'you think they sometimes knock animals out for long treks?" he growled. "They get stressed!"

"She's not an animal!" Max growled right back.

"No, she ain't, but she's got a whole lotta animal DNA. It's at least a twelve hour drive back to TC. We just stick her in the back of that truck and she's gonna wind up rippin' somebody's head off."

Max looked like she wanted to argue, but Mole had a point.

"Fine," she answered grudgingly. "You can use the gun on her. But make sure she's okay with it first."

"How exactly are we supposed to do that?" Mole asked incredulously. "Say, 'Pretty please, can we knock you out?'"

Max glared.

"Just talk to her," she snapped.

She glared again, then turned and headed over to help Lena with the medic duties. With the mood Max was in, Alec hoped she wouldn't be the one playing his nurse. His leg throbbed at the thought.

"Well," Mole started drawing Alec's attention once more, "you heard her Highness. Here." Mole shoved the tranquilizer gun at him. "You can do the 'explaining'."

"Why me?"

"'Cause she likes you best."

Alec sighed.

Typical.

TBC…

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A/N: The next chapter is the last, as strange as that sounds to say. Though, there might be a short, one-shot sequel in the works…I'll have to see what happens with it. :)

The next chapter should be up in a day or two, Lord willing. :)

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!

Take care and God bless!

Ani-maniac494 :)