Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel.

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"Next time, tell your sister she can get herself out of her own damn mess," Alec muttered. At least, that's what Max thought he muttered. Kinda hard to tell since, oh, he was talking into her hair.

"Yeah, because I'm sure Syl planned on getting caught by White's little breeding cult freaks," Max hissed back. Given that her mouth was resting right against his ear, she had no doubt that he'd heard her.

He just grunted and tried to shift positions. The metal duct they were in clanged loud enough to wake the dead as his elbow hit the side.

"Shh!"

Alec froze, and they both stopped breathing for a second as they strained to hear if the guards in the room below had noticed. That's why they were still in this incredibly awkward position, smashed together on their sides in a fucking air duct with at least four Familiars milling around down beneath them. It was, of course, Alec's fault. He'd been the one to fall down the shaft; she'd just come down after him. Never mind that it brought them almost to Syl's cell a lot faster than the route Max'd mapped out in her head. She'd been trying to squeeze by him when the Familiars had come into the room. Now, one knee was trapped between his legs, he was breathing on her hair, and...oh, god… "Tell me that's not a hard-on!"

"No, it's my gun," he whispered back.

She made a face into his t-shirt. "What? You're trying to get your dick blown off? Didn't they teach you anything at Manticore?"

He sighed—an act that squished the air right out of her. "Ok, it's not my gun."

Unfortunately, their predicament kept her from expressing her disgust at an appropriate volume.

"What?" Alec snapped. "Do you really blame me? It's been a while since I had the oil changed."

"Like what? Two days? Could you be more disgusting?"

"Try a couple of months."

"What about Marisol? And Trina? Huh?"

"Trina's a cock-tease, and Marisol's just trying to get Original Cindy's attention."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. Can we not talk about this?"

"If I remember correctly, the last time we got stuck some place together, it was my love life up for discussion. Payback's a bitch, huh Alec?"

"Yeah, yeah, karma sucks—can we shut up now before they hear us?"