Made For Each Other

Prologue: Designate This

Max watched with fear in her heart as Logan lost his footing and fell to the ground; only landing without injury thanks to her enhanced strength and speed. He lay there in her arms, dying and she felt a wave of helplessness that she had never felt before. Not even when Ben had begged her to kill him, or when she had been recaptured by Lydecker last year or even these part three months being under Renfro's command wishing she could just escape… wishing she could just get back to Logan.

"You killed him, that's what's happening." A voice that sounded so much like another told her. But the voice didn't belong to the lost boy that Ben had grown into but his genetic twin; the arrogant and cocky X5-494; Alec. "Nice job, 452, mission accomplished." He added.

Logan and Max stared at him, Logan was wondering who the hell he was as his vision started to blur but Max just couldn't believed she had been duped so easily. Of course he hadn't been helping her in order to get a new breeding party or to get her out of his life, in fact he hadn't been 'helping' her at all; he's been following orders just like a good little Manticore soldier.

"Yeah – I'd stop touching him if I were you," Alec said, noting the way that Logan was gripping her arm and Max had him cradled to her. "You're just gonna make it worse." He informed them, no malice in his voice. After all this was just an assignment to him. Nothing personal.

"What the hell are you talking about!" Demanded Max, angry beyond rational thought. Manticore had done this to Logan; to them. Alec had done this.

"A genetically targeted retrovirus. You're the carrier." Alec told them.

His meaning sunk in and Max quickly backed away from Logan; the one person she wanted more than anything else in the world and now she was literally poison to him. Alec continued his explanation, "any intimate contact between you activates the agent." He chuckled. "Now you didn't kiss him or anything, did you?" He asked unkindly.

"You son of a bitch!" Max yelled at him, meaning every word. In her angry she lunged at the other X5 but stopped when he raised the gun that gave him the advantage.

"Whoa, whoa, hey! Just following orders. Okay, now Renfro said if you want him to live you gotta bring him back to Manticore and turn yourself in." Alec relayed the message from his superior.

"There's a cure?" Max asked, the hope in her voice would have been heartbreaking if Alec knew such an emotion. However Manticore had done their best to drum that kind of emotive response out of him. Much easier to assassinate people if you didn't give a shit.

"Yeah," Alec agreed, "she'll give him the antigen if he tells her what he knows and who he's been working with."

"Why should I believe her?" Max asked with all the hostility of a child who'd learnt that trust was a weapon that could be used against her. Like Hannah calling Lydecker; if she had trusted her completely then she would never have picked up on the signs and saved them both.

"What choice do you have?" Was Alec's only rejoinder, and as Max looked from her dying love to the cold unfeeling assassin she made her choice.

X-X-X-X-X

They arrived at the base shortly after Logan lost consciousness. Renfro was waiting with a look on her face like the cat that got the cream and it made Max want to punch her hard enough to knock her out, but getting Logan better was all that mattered. And when they had gotten what they wanted from him, Max hoped she could bargain with them so that they would let him go.

"Give him the cure." Max demanded.

Renfro ignored her as a group of masked medics and physicians swarmed around Logan checking his pulse and pulling him out of his wheelchair onto a table where they strapped him down.

"Good work, 494. This could very well go towards redeeming you for your screw up two years ago. You may return to your quarters until further notice. I'll send someone to debrief you before you rejoin your peers in training. Dismissed." Alec saluted her before walking off not even looking back as he disappeared from Max's sight.

"The. Cure!" She reminded Renfro with gritted teeth.

"Of course," she said, waving a hand at the doctors who immediately injected him with liquid from a specially marked vial. "After all we have no use for a dead Eyes Only, do we." She smiled a smile that sent chills down Max's spine.

"Trust me, you don't want Eyes Only at all. Let him go and I'll give you want you want; me a willing tool for Manticore to use as it wishes." Max said.

"Max! No!" Logan shouted hoarsely.

"Not good enough 452." Renfro said. "I mean, what guarantee do I have that he won't just return to his life and tell the whole world about Manticore and me?"

"Me." She said with the cool authority of someone who was willing to lay all her cards on the table. "He tells anyone; you kill me."

Renfro was starting to look interesting. "I'm liking where this is going. But you're too precious to kill just because Eyes Only can't keep his mouth shut." She said. Max wanted to ask what the hell that meant but needed to stick to the topic.

"Obviously you'll destroy all his research and perhaps even disable his communications software. And in exchange for leaving him alone I'll… co-operate. I'll take my place among the other X5's." Max offered.

Renfro's eyes narrowed. "Take part in the breeding programme and it's a deal." She said.

Max winced; she'd hoped to find a way around that but apparently not. She hesitated, looking from Logan's perfectly well face and his begging eyes to Renfro's cold calculating gaze and knew that this was as good as it was going to get. "Fine – but I want a new partner." She bit out.

"Assignments are non-negotiable. 494 stays and you have your self a deal. Mr Cale will be released within twenty-four hours, when he arrives back to his home he will find his equipment trashed and his information wiped. Should he at any time attempt to bring us down in any way shape or form X5-542 will be the first one to suffer – torture, death… and of course Mr Cale himself will be executed. Now you may say goodbye to your old life, Max, but be careful not to get too close you wouldn't want to re-infect him, would you." Renfro said coldly as she exited the room.

Max could barely bring herself to look at Logan, so full of shame. She had just bartered away her body and soul for his life and he had witnessed every word. "You shouldn't have done that," Logan said, his voice not full of anger but of understanding, love, and grief.

Max lifted her water filled eyes to meet his. "I couldn't watch you die; not after you've given me so much. You found my family for me, you taught me what it really meant to be human. To be in love. Thank you." Max said.

Logan closed his eyes briefly as if it was too much for him to see her like this. "I can't believe this is goodbye." He said hoarse with emotion.

"Maybe its not. Maybe there will be a time when it is possible. But even if I did escape now we both know it would just be a matter of time until I touched you and that would kill you. I don't want to be your death." Max said as a fellow X-5 came to the door to escort her to her room. "I love you, Logan Cale." She whispered as she was led away, a tear falling down her cheek silently.

"I love you Max Guevara." Logan said into the empty room.

TBC… In coming chapters there will be more Alec/Max. Please comment!