The soldiers hurried the weary transgenics into military troop trucks and transported them back to Terminal City. Alec went with the other wounded to the field hospital set up in one of the old medical facilities. The medics stitched his wound and found him a cot to sleep on, but he snuck out and headed for the main hall in search of Max.

As soon as he entered the room a hush fell over the crowd. In unison the transgenics rose to their feet and saluted him. Alec was taken aback and grinned nervously. Max hurried to his side.

"You're their hero," she said with a smile.

Unsure of how to respond, Alec retreated into his customary sarcasm. "Yeah, some hero. I got skewered."

"Exactly their point." Max wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, so relieved to have him alive. Then she took him by the hand and pulled him over to a chair at the table. "Sit! You're probably not even supposed to be out of bed yet."

Alec grinned guiltily and sat next to Joshua. He'd been shot through the arm, but was otherwise unharmed. He grinned happily at Alec. "You saved little fella. You the bomb, Alec."

Alec shrugged. "Mole?" he asked. Joshua shook his head and looked away. "Shit," Alec muttered under his breath.

Logan turned around in his seat to look at Alec. His eyes flicked down to Alec's side and then back up to meet his eyes. A dozen emotions floated across the hacker's face. Logan didn't know what to say. "Thank you" was inadequate and "stay away from Max" seemed inappropriate, given what Alec had done tonight. Alec stared back in silence. Knowing what was running through Logan's mind, he couldn't stop himself from smirking. Logan sighed and forced his attention back to the monitors.

The clip of Max talking to the reporters outside the cathedral was playing over and over on every station, along with scenes of the battles fought all over the city.

----*----

Max stood alone under the flag they'd raised, and watched the sun set. The city was celebrating on both sides of the perimeter fence. She knew she should be happy – overnight the two greatest threats against her people had disappeared. The breeding cult had been smashed. Even if a few of the familiars had managed to evade capture, there weren't enough of them left out there to do any serious damage. And now the tanks were gone too. The commander had pulled his men back to base, as a gesture of good faith. Only the sector police were left to guard the perimeter, and Max knew they could easily slip by them, if they needed to get out of TC.

But it wasn't over yet. The tanks could always come back. The public was still suspicious, still afraid of them. True, they knew they'd been saved by the transgenics. Quite a few had given their lives defending the city, many of them children. But the public had also seen exactly what the transgenics were capable of doing, and it frightened them. What was to stop the transgenics from taking over themselves, if they really wanted to?

Max sighed. It was too much to expect all their problems to vanish overnight. Life wasn't like that. There were still a few hard-core nut cases carrying slogans outside their gate, but not many. At least there were no burning Xs tonight, and no angry mob trying to storm the fence. That was progress.

Max saw Lydecker pull up in his SUV. He stepped out of the car and looked up at her, silhouetted by the dying sun with the flag fluttering above her. He was proud of her. She looked thoughtfully at him for a minute, and then left the roof and descended to the street.

Alec was waiting for her. He smiled and draped his arm around her shoulders. Two days ago she would have shrugged his arm off in annoyance. Today it felt right. She slipped her arm around his waist.

"You do realize that along with saving my life you probably made me a carrier for the virus," he said sarcastically.

"Uh oh." Max looked stricken, but then she shrugged. What else could she have done? They'd just have to be extra careful around Logan.

"Yeah," Alec said, grinning. "Remind me not to shake his hand."

They stood in silence. A million thoughts and plans raced through Max's tired brain. There was still so much to do. They had a society to build, from the ground up. Freak Nation. She sighed. She was so tired of having to have all the answers. She didn't want to carry the burden of command alone. But they hadn't talked about it yet. People said the strangest things when they thought they were dying.

As if in answer to her thoughts, Alec said quietly, "I'm not gonna take it back. I won't pretend I only said it cuz I was dying. You're the best person I know, Max. If it weren't for you, I'd still be inside Manticore, living half a life."

Her heart raced. "So where do we go from here?" she asked.

She sensed rather than saw him grin. "Anywhere we want."

I will be your hero, baby

I will wash away your pain

I will stand by you forever

You can take my breath away