Disclaimer: don't own anything

"Well when can you get her blood?" An annoying scientist whined in Lady's ear. Well that was how she perceived him. Everyone else acknowledged he asked quite calmly and reasonably.

"It is not exactly easy," Lady retorted, "I can not just walk up and jab her with needle. She is transgenic!" She said the last two words like they explained everything.

"You did with the other one. What's his name?" The scientist searched the surrounding faces for clues to the man's name waving a fact sheet under Lady's nose.

"His name is Logan," she snatched the piece of paper out of his grip, "And he was sitting there distracted."

"I can't do what you want if I don't have both their blood samples," the scientist could see the young woman was getting angry and that was never a good thing.

Lady sighed, "I know. It is just that the one way would could get her to trust us if we do them this small favour."

"I don't think that is the only way we could get them to trust us," Almira came striding in holding a cell phone. Lady scrambled to catch it as Almira threw it to her.

"Did you know Zach was alive?" Came an angry voice.

"Max, how are you?" Lady negotiated delicately sensing the X5 was in a particularly bad mood.

"My… brother… is… alive," Max annunciated every word deliberately. Lady winced. She hated being treated like she was stupid.

"Zach, X5?" Lady questioned calmly but she was making frantic clicking motions with her fingers and widening her eyes significantly. People pressed buttons and began recording the phone call.

"Yes! Did you know?"

"I did not have a clue," Lady said honestly.

"Whatever. Meet me at Jam Pony. You may be able to help me find them," Max snapped the phone off and Lady was left with the dull beep beep.

"Of course queen Max," Lady continued to speak to no body sarcastically, "I live and exist to do your bidding."

Lady chucked the phone back to Almira and muttered disgusted, "Isis protect me."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Lady turned up at Jam Pony just as Max knew she would. She grumbled the entire way there but she turned up. She walked straight inside ignoring the yapping of Normal. She had found her uncomfortable street clothes and longed for the comfort of her gowns. They didn't make her feel like an oversized marshmallow.

There was a loud thump from one of the lockers. Lady sighed. When trying to locate X5's just listen for violence.

"We need to talk," Max was saying in her angry voice. Lady had to give one thing to Max, even when the woman was angry there was no shrillness to her voice, which Lady was thanking Isis for right now.

Alec was having his head brutalised by Max… again. Lady wondered if perhaps Alec and Max should just have sex and convert the tension into something less imposing on other people's lives. As soon as she thought that she felt a mixture of amusement and jealousy. Max was more likely to sleep with Normal!

Lady found that thought even more horrific! She put visual Max back in a neat little box with Logan… back where she belonged.

"What's she doing here?" Alec demanded rudely. Lady's green eyes glowered at the X5.

She understood why he was being horrible and knew that he had every right to be that way. Didn't mean she wasn't going to be angry right back. It wasn't her fault. It was her mother controlling her life and the damned prophecy.

"I invited her. She's gonna help me find Zach!" Max's tone left no room for argument. She nodded politely to Lady.

Lady could have laughed out loud at the differences between herself and Max at that moment. Max was wearing svelte jeans that hugged her figure and a tough top that sent out a message that seemed to read 'Bad ass.' Lady was wearing an ugly tracksuit with a jumper 6 sizes too big for her. Even the way they spoke was different. Lady spoke well with good English sentence structure and Max dropped her 'ing's. This whole situation was entirely too absurd. She didn't even have her sword.

"We're leaving now," Max grabbed Alec's collar and made him follow her. Lady followed on her accord.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"This is the place," Alec proclaimed.

"You sure?" Max asked. Lady stared at the place with distaste. It seemed dirtier than any other part of the city with a flurry of activity of buying and selling.

"Yeah. Yeah, in fact, I specifically remember slamming one of their heads against this post right here," He looked to Lady for confirmation and she nodded reluctantly, "All right, can I go now?"

Both females glared at Alec.

"Nope. This is your penance for scamming Sketchy into selling steroids. You're lucky I don't turn you in to the cops," Max replied and walked further in.

"Coward," Lady said provocatively.

"You know, I got out of the whole andy business once I heard it could make your heart explode. I mean, once your clientele starts dying off, who the hell are you gonna sell it to? Just didn't make any business sense--you know, long-term," Alec tried to explain to the women but they weren't interested.

"Now, if this is the Steelheads' turf, where are they?" Max was using her X5 vision to search every conceivable angle.

"How should I know? They're probably holed up somewhere, tweaking each others' circuits," Alec suggested.

Lady and Max exchanged a look before gazing slyly back at Alec.

"Maybe they just need to be drawn out?" Lady said innocently.

"Guess we're just gonna have to get their attention, then," Max played along. Neither took their eyes off Alec.

"Please tell me one of you are going to get naked," He pleaded.

"Nope. You're going back into the steroid biz," Max explained. Both girls face were set with determination.

"Yeah, they made it pretty clear that they didn't want me around here," Alec pointed out.

"Exactly. Now imagine how ticked off they're gonna be when they find out you didn't listen," Max observed.

"I think they will be most infuriated," Lady surmised.

Alec tried not to laughed at the way Lady said infuriated and tried to reason with the girls, "Yeah, they're gonna come packing this time. No. No, I--I have zero interest in tangling with these psychos again. You're on your own."

He began walking away but Max seized his arm, "I'm gonna find my brother and you're gonna help me."

"Your brother. That's cute, Max," His expression indicated he thought it was anything but cute.

"He's the closest thing to family I have. I don't expect you to understand that. What I do expect is your cooperation, or else," Max said and for the first time a hint of desperation could be detected in her tone.

"Or else what," Alec's voice didn't soften.

"Or else I tell Normal how you used Jam Pony to peddle steroids, and he'll can your ass. No more job means no more sector pass," Max threatened.

"How am I supposed to get around?" Alec demanded.

"I don't know, but it's gonna make it pretty difficult for you to be a cat burglar," Max knew she had won.

Alec was reflecting. He could just bail and go back to the Isis castle. No he couldn't. He had forgotten he had technically gotten evicted from there by the other woman staring defiantly. He had never thought to really wonder why Lady had snapped and sent him packing; he'd been too cranky with her. Maybe if he did this for Max it would be steps forward to healing the rift between them.

He snorted. She had already seen Max practically bribe him to do it and what did he care if they healed the rift or not. In fact Alec convinced himself that the main objective should be avoiding Max's fist in his face.

"Andy, anyone? Anyone want some andy? You lookin' for some andy, pal? You could beef up a little bit, huh? No? All right. Andy, anybody?"

Max grinned. Lady didn't.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"What you mean, you don't have it on you?" A man asked violently.

"Well, like I said, sir, if you just wanna give me your name and address, I promise I'll pop it in the mail tomorrow," Alec offered weakly.

"You wack punk!" The man strode away. Alec tensed, frustrated, as he rejoined the girls.

"This is ridiculous," Alec murmured.

"Hey, you," One of the steel heads stepped out.

"Finally! You realize how long I've been waitin' for you?" Alec asked sounding relieved. This confused the steel head. Did the X5 want trouble? He certainly hadn't brought along a group of burly men. Just two small girls, one who looked like a walking beach ball.

He recovered to deliver his bad line, "Not nearly as long as I've been waitin' for you," and raised his gun.

Alec and Max blurred. Lady did t6he only thing she could think of and dived behind a barrel of some sort. She hated guns. She didn't even have her sword.

The X5's took on the two steel heads with little fuss.

Alec was smirking as he disarmed his steelhead but a cold hard fist clamped around his throat.

"Zach!" Max exclaimed and ran forward. Lady gasped as Alec dangled there. He was going to die if he didn't get out of there. Zach was holding a gun on Max.

Lady slowly moved from the barrel. Zach didn't pay any attention to her after judging her harmless.

"Zack. It's me. It's Max," Max tried talking softly to her brother. Lady felt her heart bleed for Max.

"Who are you?" Zach looked confused. Which made everyone else confused. Why didn't he know who she was?

"Zack, it's me. Zack? It's Max," Her voice was urgent now. Her eyes flicked from her brother to Alec who was finding it harder and harder to breath.

"You're an X5. Show me your barcode," He demanded.

"Max, show it to him already," Alec breathed out.

Max turned slowly and lifted her hair off her neck. Zach dropped Alec.

"You're 452. I know you. You're in my unit," Zach stated simply.

"That's right. I'm Max," She said it softly. Lady could see the devastation spreading across her face. What had they done to him at Manticore?

"Max," Zach repeated. The word familiar on his tongue.

"Come on. Let's get you out of here," Max moved forward to gently take Zach's arm.

Zach looked at the steel heads on the ground, "What about them?"

"They're not in our unit," And Max led the puzzled man away.

"I'm fine," Alec whispered hoarsely after them.

"Are you really fine?" A soft voice asked.

Alec looked up to see Lady still standing there. She appeared concerned.

"Ribs are a bit sore but I'll live," Alec allowed a moment of self-pity.

"We need to take a look at that then," Lady's voice surprisingly gentle. Alec didn't want to be looked after her. They weren't friends. They could have been but they weren't.

She helped him back to his apartment, "Lets see the ribs." She was all business.

Alec winced and pulled off his shirt. Lady's fingers softly touched his side, which was an ugly bruise.

"How did that happen?" She asked shocked.

"Got me in the side before grabbing my throat," Alec smiled grimly. He hadn't been prepared for the X5 at all.

"Have you got any ice?"

Alec gestured to the fridge. Lady her way over. She used this time to compose herself. The close vicinity to Alec had made her heart race. Alec was trying to defuse his own reaction. He thought of Rachel eventually. It hurt him deep in his heart but it steeled himself against Lady.

She brought the ice up to his side and his skin prickled. He couldn't stand it anymore. He pushed her hands away.

"I don't need your help," He snapped.

"What?" Lady retorted angry and incredulous. What had she done wrong?

"I don't need you babying me," Alec's retort sound ridiculous to his own ears.

Lady's eyes widened for a second before she got a look of pure anger on her face, "Maybe that would not be necessary if you did not act like a baby."

And she threw the ice pack at him. Hard!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Lady was punching and hitting things with force. He had unbalanced her again. Her body's physical reaction was insane and had driven all thoughts of Duke and obligation from her mind. Then he had made her really furious. Was he ever going to forgive her for that night? Probably not she thought bitterly.

Almira and Tsarina looked at her train.

"Don't you ever sleep?

"You can sleep when you're dead," Lady said.

"Uh! She's quoting again," Almira said.

"Must have seen Alec," Tsarina surmised.

"How do you know?" Lady asked.

"Because you have been doing this on and off for days," Tsarina pointed out like it was the most obvious reason in the world.

"We fought. I do not think he likes me anymore," Lady responded dejectedly and sat down.

"You do remember you're marrying Duke and Alec doesn't have to like you?" Almira pointed out.

"Of course," Lady managed. Tsarina rolled her eyes.

"If you're so attracted to him why don't you marry Alec instead?" Almira asked.

"My mother would pitch a fit," Lady said and couldn't help smiling imagining her mothers reaction if she said they were going to marry the X5.

At that point a man ran in with a cell phone. Lady looked at it warily. She didn't want to take another phone call again from anybody.

"I'm not here," She informed the man.

"It's the X5. The female," The man stuttered.

Max! Great and she had probably heard Lady try and avoid the phone call.

"Max?"

"I need a favour!"

"Are you crying?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Lady watched Max cry as they wheeled Zach down the hall.

"Will he be happy?" Max asked.

"They'll take him out to one of the cult ranches. Small but nice. Doesn't have much to do with transgenic so no memory triggers there," Lady hesitated but then patted the X5 on the arm. Max managed a weak smile.

"Thanks. I mean for a cult you are alright," Max said this sincerely. Lady tried to grin back but she knew what she was going to say was bound to irritate Max.

"You may be seeing a lot more of me than you like. See if you feel the same way then," Lady tried a joke.

Max was staring blankly at her, "What?"

Lady didn't reply. Max didn't want any more people treading on her turf. It sounded cliché but Max knew secretly that was how she felt and whilst the cult of Isis had only proved useful and Lady was nice enough she didn't want to see any more of her than she had to.

Lady knew exactly what was going through Max's mind and chose that moment to leave.

The prophecy was playing out and as much as she protested Lady must play her part.

AN: not much to say in my AN but I've been told that people have stopped reading cos it's Alec centric but have complimented my writing (happy dance). I love Alec more than Logan because I think he's more of a character that can develop etc. Logan's too stable and down to earth. But I promised Max/Logan shippers that I would respect that relationship!

MD666