A/n- Well, the one-shot helped a bit with the writers block so here's a chappie for ya.

Oh- question- I'm going to totally redo a Real Life Fairytale so while I'm revamping it, anyone have any requests they'd like to make about that story? ((If you review don't forget to review on this story too!!))

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel- If I did Max and Alec would have gotten together, a united transgenic army would totally kick ass and take names on the cult, Max and Alec would have a whole unit of kids, and the show would have lasted a hell of a lot longer.

Bag 'Em Part 2

Max echoed him disbelievingly. "You told them so? What do you mean, you told them so? You let them go towards the trap?! What the hell where you thinking? Are you stupid? Did you get dropped on your head as child or what?"

She was furious, ready to rip him a new asshole, when a kid spoke up. "He told us not to go, M'am, but we couldn't believe that command would betray us so we went, M'am." She looked at Alec, still angry, but not nearly as angry as she had been. She turned her attention to the kids, particularly the injured boy.

She looked at the wound in his leg and hissed with sympathy before ripping open the pants leg. Alec immediately assessed the wound with a critical eye and pulled out his pocket knife. "The bullet went right through. We have to cauterize it."

His unit members held his head. "Hurry up Alec, he's going into shock." Alec waved the blade over the flame of a lighter. A unit member, a girl, took one look at the gruesome wound and turned her back "I think I'm going to be sick!" Alec, never losing his focus, tried to lighten the situation by joking "I bet that one flunked field-med."

Meanwhile, the boy's eyes dilated. "Hurry!" Alec finished sterilizing it and handed it to Max, moving to hold the boy down. Max spoke quickly "I'm not gonna lie to you, this is gonna hurt like hell." Max quickly pressed the red blade to the wound as the boy hissed and screamed through clenched teeth.

Alec held him down murmuring "It's going to be alright, just hang on."

Max handed Alec his blade. "It won't be if we don't get these kids out of here!"

Alec shook his head "Nuh-uh. This is your party, not mine."

Max snarled. "Party? You think this is a party? And need I remind you that if you'd tried a little harder he wouldn't have gotten shot in the first place?!" Alec opened his mouth to argue but chose not to, instead going over to a corner to sulk while Max played 'Hero'.

In the meantime, in a military camp not far from where they, a man was ready to have an apoplexy. "Let me get this straight. A girl on a motorcycle got the drop on you and all of your men." The handsome, intimidating man stood in front of the clearly disturbed, if not frightened, soldier.

The soldier replied "It's hard to explain, sir. It all happened so fast that-" the soldier was interrupted by a messenger. "Sir, we've found director Renfro's briefcase." With a nod from the man, the case was placed on the desk. The man opened it and skimmed through a folder. "Well, well. DNA of an X-5. Not bad looking, for a freak."

The soldier, who had been peering over the man's shoulder, said "Sir. Sir that's her, that's the girl on the motorcycle."

The man, his mood now clearly improved, asked "You're sure?"

The soldier replied in an indignant tone "Yes, sir."

The man spun to face the soldier, urgency written in his features. "Don't just stand there. Find her." The soldier left and the man dismissed the messenger, his attention now focused on the folder once more.

Max explored the rest of the rooms and found an old, beaten truck. "Excellent." If she could fix this up, maybe she could help the kids get to safety- at least away from Manticore. She returned to the room, Alec eating popcorn and sulking. "All right everyone, fall in." She commanded as she had heard Zack do several times in the past.

Much to her surprise, and underlying pleasure, they did as she ordered immediately. 'Huh. Did Zack always feel this powerful?'

"There's been a change in your mission status, extreme and unforeseen. You've been betrayed by your own command, what do you do?"

The replied as one. "Redeploy."

Max nodded. "Correct. How?"

The CO replied. "Unknown, M'am. We have no training in regard to that circumstance."

"Do you know what that means?"

They replied. "No, M'am!"

Max continued. "All your training goes out the window."

"Yes, M'am."

"Starting with your blind obedience to Manticore and everything it stands for."

"Yes, M'am."

Max paced in front of them.

"Which means your going to stop calling me m'am and start calling me Max."

"Yes, M'am."

"Yes, Max. That's my name." She corrected gently yet firmly.

Alec snorted softly in the background, still sulking.

"And now that you're in the real world, you should all have names too."

Alec let out an exasperated sound. "Oh, for the love of-"

Max half turned to him, where he was throwing pop-corn at an X7. "You don't seem to mind your name, Alec. Or would you prefer 494? I'm sure that when you try to get a job and you introduce yourself, they won't think you're odd or a nut job at all…"

Alec, who had been about to point out that she had given him his name and that he hadn't chosen it, wisely chose not to say anything. She was right, in a way. Introducing yourself as a number would probably get you thrown into jail or a nut house.

"You need to stop thinking of yourselves as soldier and start thinking of yourselves as people."

The leader interjected "But we are soldiers."

Max came to stand in front of him. "You mouthin' off to me? 'Because I have zero tolerance for that, zero! And to commemorate this special moment, that's going to be your name; zero,"

He remained silent and she continued. "Now get out on sentry duty."

He backed out of the room and did as she ordered.

She turned to a girl, clearly the SIC. "I saw you messing around with that radio there."

The girl nodded and stated proudly. "I excelled in diagnostics and repair. I was trying to fix it."

Max nodded thoughtfully. "Fixit, that'll be your name. And that's what you're gonna do with that old pickup over there; fix it." The girl smiled briefly before striding towards the truck to do as she was told.

Max moved down the line to stand in front of a pretty blond girl. "You're the girl that threw up." She stated gently.

Alec called out, interrupting her. "You could always call her Ralph."

The girl, seeing Alec, had a slightly dreamy smile on her face and Max desperately resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Ralph. I like it."

Max gave a small smile. "It's a boy's name."

Ralph frowned slightly. "I still like it."

Max smiled and nodded resignedly. "Alright, Ralph. Go take care of Bullet."

She cocked her head slightly. "Who's Bullet?" Her attention was still on Alec.

For a brief moment, Max was slightly worried she'd actually swoon.

"The kid that got shot." A look of recognition crossed her face as she ran to do as she was told.

The only one left, was a little boy with a Bugle tucked under his arm.

"That yours?" Max asked him.

He replied. "I'm in the bugle corp."

"Bugler it is."

"What's my assignment?"

"To get some rest."

He frowned. "It's not lights out yet."

Max shrugged. "It's ok; let's find some place for you to bunk down."

Max had begun to roll out some blankets she found when Alec called out. "What about him?" He said, pointing to a lone X7. "Doesn't he get name?" He continued throwing pop-corn at him.

Max, now thoroughly annoyed with him, replied. "I'll leave that to you since you two seem to be getting along so well."

He rolled his eyes and stood up, brushing himself off. He handed the pop-corn to him and said "You'll need your strength, soldier." before following Max out side.

Max relieved Zero of sentry duty and kept an eye out for soldiers. Alec came to stand next to her and was silent for a moment. "We never had talked."

Max shook her head. "No, we didn't. Thank you, by the way, for saving me."

Alec began to feel a little uncomfortable, what was supposed to be a serious talk was turning into a mushy moment that brought a whole tidal wave of feelings Alec really didn't want to get hit with. So he said "What else could I do? There's a hot ass chick passed out in a burning building, what kind of knight-in-shining-armor would I be? And hell, the handcuffs plus a passed out hot ass chick just made my night."

Max smacked him in the arm but there was a smile on her face.

Softly, she asked "What are you going to do now?"

He didn't meet her eyes and kept himself focused on the tree-line, watching for movement. "I don't know. I was kind of hoping you would have an idea."

If Max was surprised that he had basically just told her that he put his life in her hands, she didn't show it. Instead, she said "Whatever you do, you can always look me up in Seattle."

And if that wasn't an invitation of sorts, Alec didn't know what was. It took Alec a minute to realize that they were kind of having a moment, in an odd sort of way. The easy banter, and the gentle way she spoke, told him that they probably weren't going to have many of these moments so he stayed quiet. He walked next to Max, matching her step for step, as they kept a look out for trouble. They didn't talk anymore, but they weren't uncomfortable- anything but, in fact.

If they had been walking like this down a street in any city, you might hear an older couple saying "Look at them, they remind me of how we were when we first met." Or "They make such a fine match." They weren't holding hands, and they didn't have lovey-dovey looks on their faces but anyone who was watching could tell; there was something there.

Else where, an SUV drove up to the gates of military encampment and the driver was greeted by a soldier with his hand out to stop him.

Lydecker exited the car and slammed the door shut. "Where's White?"

The soldier replied "Sir, this is a restricted area you're going to have to turn this vehicle-"

Lydecker flipped out his wallet and showed the soldier is ID. "Tell him Lydecker is here to see him."

The soldier nodded and said "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to wait-"

Lydecker cut him off again "Sorry, son, this is urgent." He barged past him and continued walking.

The Soldier immediately got on his comm. "Sir, there's someone here from Manticore, name's Lydecker."

While the soldier remained at the gate, Lydecker began rifling through the safe and the paperwork on White's desk.

Pulling open a CD case, Lydecker took it and put it in his pocket, continuing his search. He stopped briefly to look around and spotted the brief case sitting the chair. He opened it and took the database discs and put them in his pocket, grabbing the folder as well. He shut the briefcase with a snap and strode out of the tent.

White, accompanied by a unit of soldiers, was making his way toward his office. "He came here by himself? What the hell was he thinking?" The question was rhetorical and the soldiers knew him well enough not to supply an answer.

White pulled out his gun and entered the tent; it was empty. He glanced around his office and saw the briefcase sitting on his desk, where he hadn't left it. The soldier behind him saw the briefcase and realization crossed his face. With an angry snarl, he opened it to find it empty, as he had expected, and threw it at the wall. He strode out of the tent without another word.

Lydecker drove as fast as he could. He needed to get in touch with Max, but things were that much harder now that Logan was dead. He would have to get back home and get in touch with Zack.

"Satellite's in range, Sir." White stood and watched the sky as the signal began to flash.

Night fell and Max was somewhat reassured that the soldiers didn't know they were there. With a sigh, she and Alec returned inside. Max couldn't help but smile. The entire unit was huddled in one spot, sleeping soundly next to each other. Max remembered when her unit had been the same and smiled fondly.

Turning she realized that Alec was already asleep, and with the last blanket no less. She was exhausted and, at that particular moment, really couldn't give a damn about anything except sleeping in comfort. So she crawled under the blanket and found herself snuggling into his side for warmth, too tired to see his eyes open briefly and smile take over his face.

Morning came and, as usual, Max was the first to awaken. Her surprise came, however, when she realized that the sun was rising. She had actually had a natural good night's sleep. The only time she'd ever slept this long was through a drug induced sleep. Huh. Now that was something to think about. She struggled to get up and realized that her body was, in fact, entwined with Alec's. His arm was wrapped firmly around her waist, her right leg was wrapped around his and her left arm had slipped underneath his head was curled tightly around his neck.

Slowly, she began to unwind herself. Her leg came first, followed shortly by her arm. The trouble she was having now was how to get out from under his arm. She tried to gently pull it off, at first, only to feel it tighten. She struggled wildly, no longer caring if she woke him, when she stopped suddenly, realizing that he was undoubtedly awake and doing this on purpose. Well, fine. A little payback was necessary, then.

She stopped struggling and sighed before laying down and snuggling close again, her head resting in the crook of his neck. She could hear his heart beat pick up a little and had to stop her self from smirking. Keeping her breathing steady, her right arm curled around his neck as she pulled herself closer. She nuzzled him gently, purposely purring. She felt him shiver. Her right hand began to stroke his barcode and she felt him relax instantly. It was almost like when you hit the 'on' button on a remote and watch the TV light up.

Merely touching the barcode brought him to purring and relaxation. She would have liked to have continued and messed with him but her ears picked up sounds that were all too familiar with her. She could hear them moving, attempting stealth. Soldiers. Quickly abandoning reason, she bolted up into a crouch. Alec's eyes shot open and he was about to say something when he heard it too.

Max spoke to him quietly. "Wake the kids up. Get them into the truck and ready to go; I'll give you guys a signal when."

Alec nodded, and headed off to wake them.

Max did a perimeter sweep and checked through the windows; they were just now emerging from the tree line.

The kids were in the truck, Alec in the driver's seat. Max came around. "When they come in, hit the gas for all its worth. I don't care if you have to run them over, just get out. Stay together- keep each other safe. If you need any help, go to Seattle. I have a friend who works there; she'll help you. Her name is Cindy, Original Cindy. I work there too, if I'm not there, ask her."

They nodded. Several crashes could be heard and Max saw smoke from the doorway. "Smoke bombs… Alright, I'll keep them busy. Go!" Max blurred and hid behind an old-fashioned tractor.

Alec hit the gas pedal just as a soldier opened the barn door. Max attacked several soldiers, using the smoke to hide her self, who had been preparing to go after the truck.

A soldier cocked his gun and Max blurred out of the way as he fired. Sneaking up behind him, she delivered him a rough blow to the head blurring up the stairs and into the loft, hiding in plain sight. She waited patiently for her next chance to attack. Two unsuspecting soldiers were right under her, she leapt down from the loft and split-kicked both in the chest, knocking them to the ground.

More soldiers came running and Max knew she probably wouldn't be getting out of this; she had underestimated the size of their force. She drop kicked several soldiers and made a run for the door- she didn't make it. A soldier hit her over the head with an AK-47.

The soldier in charge took off his gas mask and pulled out his radio. "Foxtrot One to command, we have her Sir."

White's voice crackled over the radio. "Foxtrot One, could you repeat that?"

The soldier replied "Sir, we have X5-452."

Max awoke with a splitting head ache. She sat up quickly and looked around. She was in a cage in what looked to be an office. Great. Now she really felt at home. She looked to her right and gasped sharply. She quickly apologized "Sorry, I didn't realize there was anyone else in here."

She looked him over without fear, knowing he was just another victim of Manticore. The lizard man, who looked like he had a little too much chameleon in his cocktail, just cocked his head. "You don't look so hot." He looked rather sick, in fact.

"You probably need some sun… Bet they had you all hooked up, back at Manticore. An empty barrack, all to your self."

He looked away and Max looked down to see a cockroach scrambling across the floor. She stepped on it. "Ugh, I hate those things." She looked up at him to see his eyes almost pleading with her.

"You…do you want it?" He made some clucking sounds and she picked it up, holding her arm through the slot. "I'll take that as a yes."

His tongue snapped out, and he caught it.

She smiled slightly. "Nice move."

His eyes looked past her and she spun around suddenly, seeing soldiers about to enter. Only one man, however, entered. He took off his glasses to reveal piercing blue eyes. Max would have thought him handsome, if she hadn't somehow known that he was the reason she was in a cage.

"Having a little family reunion?"

She mentally rolled her eyes; such a wit, he was.

"You must be the new bad guy in my life."

He looked at her threw the bars. "You know, 452, you're much prettier than in your picture."

"Gee, miss the old bad guys already."

"I had a chance to peruse the DNA work up done during your most recent stay at Manticore."

"Let me guess, my insurance didn't cover it and you want me to go out of pocket."

"Are you familiar with the term 'Junk' DNA?"

"The latest term for base pairs that don't contain any viable genetic information; doesn't do much more than fill space… Kind of like that gray squishy thing between your ears."

"Would you be surprised if I told you that you don't have any Junk DNA? It seems every single base pair is coded for some specific genetic purpose. Now the money question is; what does it mean? What is it that your genes are coded to do?"

"Kick ass mostly, after that I wouldn't know."

"Well," He smiled slightly.

"Not to worry. We're going to find out."

He walked out of the tent and left Max alone to register everything that he said.

Else where, the old truck was pattering down the road. Alec's face set into a grim, determined line.

Ralph spoke up "I can't believe we left her there. After all she did for us…"

Bullet shook his head. "She gave us a direct order."

Bugler interjected "She told me we didn't have to take orders from anyone, not even her."

Ralph said "That's good enough for me."

Zero and Fixit murmured "Me too."

All of them stared at Alec with imploring eyes. He refused to look at them; feeling their gazes was bad enough.

When he continued feeling their gazes on him he sighed. Without any warning he jerked the wheel and did a complete 180 on them, turning back the way they had come.

Later on, after night had fallen, they were all hidden behind some trees at the edge of the camp. Alec sighed again, wishing two things; One being the kids not caring about Max, and two being him not caring about Max.

"Alright, let's get this over with."

He took charge and led the way. A lone soldier was at the borderline, patrolling the area lazily.

Zero took him out silently, pushing a pressure point on his neck.

Fixit strode to an open back of a truck, where a generator was running. She quickly unplugged everything.

Ralph and Bullet took out two more soldiers, snapping their necks. Alec grabbed the gun and threw one to Ralph indicating to keep moving.

Alec rejoined the group and said "Alright, you've done your part. Get out of here; we'll meet you at the designated randevous."

Alec blurred through the camp shadows. He entered a tent and turned on the flash light on his gun.

"Alec!"

His flashlight found Max in the cage.

"To the rescue," He said smiling slightly.

He pulled out several lock picks. "Still want to kick my ass?"

"Maybe later, hurry up." He laughed quietly.

She exited the cage and he turned to leave. "Wait, him too."

He flashed the light on the cage next to Max's, where he was clicking softly.

"Are you kidding?"

She smacked him. "Do it!

She smiled at the lizard man and said soothingly "It's gonna be ok." the lizard exited the cage and ran towards the tent's back exit.

"You're welcome. Let's go!" Alec said urgently.

Max pulled him back again. "Wait. The laser show is still going. If you're gonna be a hero, you can't be half-assed about it. Let's go."

She turned and exited the tent from the front. Alec followed, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

There was only one soldier at the satellite center. "All those stars kind of make you feel small and insignificant, huh?"

He turned to her, his mouth open in surprise, when Alec came from behind and hit him over the head with a gun.

Max and Alec began typing in a new pattern for the laser.

Else where in the camp, White and his soldiers converged around an unconscious soldier.

White spoke into his radio "We've got a security breach. The perimeter's been compromised."

The head of the technician's team frowned, watching the laser in the sky.

White saw where he was looking and said "What are you looking at?"

"That's not the signal to regroup. It's the signal to scatter and go to ground."

White immediately turned on the radio. "White to all units- disable the signal now!"

Max and Alec waited a few minutes before Max said "It's done. Trash it."

They both stood back as Alec shot the equipment until it was no longer able to work.

A soldier had snuck up behind them and was ready to fire when the lizard man returned and took him out. Max and Alec turned in surprise. Max smiled and waved him over.

He began to walk when White and his men came from the side. White took aim and let off several rounds. The lizard man fell and Max gasped and tried to run to him. Alec held her back. "We gotta get outta here. Go. Go!"

They made a break for the tree line as White's men converged on the creature.

Early next morning, Max handed the kids their papers. "These should get you through any sector check points and into Canada safely." She hugged all of them briefly. "You'd better get a move on- it's not safe 'round here."

Zero asked "We ever going to see you again?"

Max smiled. "Promise. Stay together- I've spent years trying to find my family after we split up. Don't let it happen to you."

Alec rolled his eyes slightly.

"We have one last thing to do as soldiers."

Alec asked "And what's that?"

"Pay our respects to those who didn't make it. Attention!"

All filed in and stood at attention, their hands to the foreheads in a perfect salute.

Bugler began to play and even Alec was in line, his arm raised in salute. As he played, Max thought not only of the lizard man, but of the kids she'd seen die from following that retched signal and the ones she hadn't seen die, but knew had given their lives. Of Eva and Ben, of those who hadn't survived the fire in Manticore, of Tinga and Zack.

Max hugged them each one last time before walking over to Alec, who had stolen a car for the occasion. "If you ever need me, you know where to find me."

He nodded and gave a mock salute, thinking to himself 'I think I'm gonna wait awhile before I meet her again; all my trouble seems centered around her.'

She got on her bike and rode off, waving to them as she blazed down the rode.

'I can't help but wonder if I'll see Alec again. I mean sure, he's a pain in my ass, but I kind of got used to having him around. The way he looked at me when I told him to look me up in Seattle tells me that he plans on doing just that but then again, who am I to say? I guess I'll just have to wait and see where the road takes us...'

A/n- Well that was a long chapter- I hope everyone is still with me. I'm trying to get back on my feet with my fanfics. Hope everyone enjoyed!

Please review!