Author's note – Hi, again! I'm back. As for this story, it takes place in Season 2, sometime between "She ain't heavy" and "Love among the runes" for obvious reasons. You'll understand when you read.

Music Suggestions – 'Downfall' by Trust Company, 'Stranger inside' by Shinedown, 'Undiscovered' by Ashlee Simpson, 'Eat you alive' by Limp Bizkit.

Disclaimer – Don't own Dark Angel.

Undiscovered: Chapter 1

Alec sat on a bench beside his locker at Jam Pony, gazing at Max with the intensity of a painter studying his muse. She was conversing with OC about something or other, but he wasn't really paying attention to that. Her eyes lit up and she bowled over, laughing at something OC had said. His head tilted to the side with what could only be described as rapt fascination. Pretending to be reorganizing his bag, he occasionally pulled something out, only to stuff it back in without even looking at it. He'd been at it for at least twenty minutes now.

It had been tense the weeks following Sam's arrival and departure from Seattle. Well, to be honest, it'd been tense since Max had told him that they were a couple. He didn't understand why Logan would come to such a conclusion and why Max would let him believe it. Could Logan not see how he and Max treated each other? And what exactly was Max thinking when she didn't deny the accusation? He knew that Max thought of him as a screw-up, but did she really believe he would go so low as to steal someone's girl? If he thought he had a chance in hell with her, he would've made a move. But she'd made that clear from the beginning that she was already involved and couldn't stand him. So he held back and fell into the role she placed him in. Now here she was letting Logan think that he could steal Max like she was some kind of property.

And to top it all off, he wasn't even getting any of the benefits that such a relationship entitles. Well, not unless Logan was in the area and they had to keep up pretenses. He'd rather not think of that, though. It just brought his current troubles to the surface.

He couldn't explain it, but lately he just couldn't take his eyes off of Max. His eyes were drawn to her every time she was near. At first, he was almost positive that she was entering a heat cycle. He had yet to see her have one with him around. Manticore had ways of regulating it, but here on the outside for so long, it was bound to kick in sooner or later. However, he ruled out that option early on. One, because she wasn't producing an excess of pheromones and two, the other male X5s working at Jam Pony hadn't made any advances on her.

That had led him to wonder what Max was like in heat. She definitely wouldn't be as controlled as she was now. She'd probably be more open to doing it in any location as well. That provided him with a wealth of images that would otherwise endanger his manhood if Max were ever to find out about them. But then another thought occurred to him: would she want him? That thought had given him pause, causing him to have a near accident due to it occurring during a JP run earlier that week. Did he want Max to think of him as a suitable mate? Hell yes.

Even his subconscious couldn't escape her. His dreams had been haunted by Max as well. There was one in particular that had a frequent occurrence. It involved a motorcycle, Max in a sexy red dress, and a red apple. He'd been watching too much TV. He was beginning to think that maybe male X5s went into heat as well...an extended heat, at that. How else could he explain his sudden obsession with Max?

He couldn't even sleep around anymore. He hadn't had sex in weeks due to Max. It had to be some kind of record for him. No other girl could seem to do it for him. His body only wanted one person...and she couldn't stand him.

Focusing his gaze, he realized that OC was looking at him oddly. Smiling half-heartedly, he shifted his gaze to his bag and zipped it up. Standing, he slung it over his shoulder and walked over to the main desk where Normal was busy bipping his underlings into action.

"Hey, Normal. Got anything for Sector 8?" Alec asked, leaning nonchalantly against the post next to the main desk.

Normal looked up at who'd spoken, surprised at the request. It was the furthest sector out, not to mention the most dangerous. Most avoided getting packages for that area. And it was Alec, of all people, who had asked.

"Got three actually." Normal said, bewildered. "Probably take all day to deliver. Sure you want to head all the way out there? You know what? I'll get someone else to help. Missy-miss, perhaps?" He continued, placing the three packages on the counter and preparing to call Max over.

"No!" Alec shouted out while shaking his head vigorously. He wanted to get away from her, not be stuck alone with her all day.

A few had looked up at his outburst, surprised. Rarely did Alec ever lose control of his emotions.

"It's dangerous out there, that's all." he explained in a calmer tone, looking down for a moment to berate himself.

"She's had no problem out there before, but alright. If that's what you want…" Normal trailed off, looking at Alec peculiarly.

Alec scooped up the packages and tucked them into his bag before making his way over to collect his bike.

ooomoooo*ooovoooxoo*oozooo*ooouoooo

"Somethin' up wit yo' boy, Boo. Been all outta sorts for awhile now." OC commented as Alec walked past them, staring straight ahead. Her eyes followed him all the way to his bike before turning back to Max.

"He ain't my boy. And yeah, I've noticed. Hard to tell what, though." Max replied as she pulled on her fingerless gloves. Although, she did have a feeling she knew why. She just wasn't revealing it to her girl. She seemed to be having trouble focusing as well whenever he was around. It'd been ever since that one episode a few weeks back when Logan had made an unexpected appearance. She refused to dwell on the memory, however. If it were anyone else but Alec, she'd think she was beginning to crush on the guy. She stared after him awhile longer before turning back to her locker and slamming the door shut. "It's made him an even larger pain in the ass than usual." she continued.

"Girl, you need to quit givin' him such a hard time." OC chastised as they both walked across the way to grab packages to be delivered.

Walking away, Max detected something being thrown her way. Spinning around, she caught the small rectangular package with lightening quick reflexes that was inches from hitting her on the head. She looked at Normal incredulously, who wore his usual bland expression.

"That just came in. Sector 8. Alec just went out before it arrived. Bip!" Normal explained before turning to hand out more packages, dismissing her.

"But Normal, that's all the way across town." Max complained, frowning.

"Then you'd best get going. That's not the only package you'll deliver today, either." Normal retorted, not even looking in her direction.

"Ass." Max muttered to OC, who snorted in response.

"What was that?" Normal asked suspiciously, for once being astute.

"Bipping." Max replied loudly, holding up the package and trudging over to where her bike was hanging.

OC walked up beside Max to get her own bike. "You want Original to take that?" she asked, gesturing to the first package Max had picked up. It was in the same sector as hers.

"If you don't mind." Max said morosely, handing the package over. She'd been looking forward to some long overdue quality time with her best friend.

OC looked at Max sadly. She missed spending time with her girl as well. "Don't worry, girl. We'll catch up later. Up for Crash tonight?" OC asked, sending Max a warm expression.

"Yeah. Catch ya later." Max replied, walking her bike up the ramp and out the door. She looked up at the overcast sky. It looked like rain. It was going to be a long day.

oooaooo*oovooooo*oouooooo*oomooo

A/N – There it is. This story was inspired by numerous things. For instance, in this chapter, a DKNY 'Red Delicious' perfume ad in September's (of 2007) issue of Cosmo (somewhere between pages 40-50 if you want to look it up). Up next, OC and Max have a talk at Crash. Until next time…