Shelter from the Storm

by Siara Elen

Follows Freak Nation. The transgenics build a community in TC, even as the siege continues. The pressure throws Max and Alec together, building grudging friendship into true affection and maybe more, but these are dangerous times, the heart is fragile...

10. A safe place to land

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and alerts and favourites. Especially to the reviewers without PMs enabled, who I haven't been able to respond to personally.

I unreservedly accept how much I suck for not having updated this story for so long. If anybody is still reading, I don't deserve you! I have no excuses. I found it very hard to manhandle my characters into the place they needed to be and I let myself get sidetracked by real life. Basically, I lost my mojo. Then of course I got my mojo back for this story at precisely the moment I lost it for my Nanowrimo story. What are the odds?

Disclaimer: Are they even for sale? If they are, we should all club together to buy them, then we can play sock puppet theatre to our hearts' content.

So, the story so far:

Following the shooting, Alec's on the mend and Logan has been de-triggered. Fences have been mended, understandings reached and Max has finally said a real goodbye to Logan. She's ready to move on with her future with Alec and her TC family, but there are still enemies to neutralise if they're ever to be really free...

#

Chapter 10 – A Safe Place to Fall

While Alec recuperated and she waited for news from the senator, Max found she was strangely grateful for the siege that had kept them all locked down for so many months. If they'd all gone to ground they'd be alone now, trying to survive on the margins. Instead they had a real community, tightly knit like one of those tiny towns in the middle of nowhere where everyone gossiped shamelessly, and nobody had two cents to rub together, but they lent each other lawnmowers and looked out for each other in adversity.

In TC, when one of them was down, all the others banded together and gave whatever was needed. They'd all been ready to donate blood. And over the days when they'd sat with Alec, she, Mole and Joshua hadn't wanted for anything. Luke had been bringing them food, and he was an amazing cook, addicted to the food channel when he wasn't hunched over his computer screen.

And it turned out that Fixit's skill for mending things didn't stop at engines, because one morning she showed up in Medical, clutching a familiar looking sweater nervously in her hand.

"Hey Max."

"Hey girl, What'cha got there?"

Fixit held out the sweater, "I wasn't sure if it'd bring back bad memories, but Ralph said you were totally bummed about the holes, so..."

Max held it up and saw that it was Alec's hoodie, the one she'd been wearing the day of the shooting. She examined it carefully, noting that Fixit had not only managed to get all the blood stains out, but over the place where Max knew there were two holes, marking the entry and exit points of the bullet that had grazed her upper arm after passing through Alec's, she had stitched an embroidered patch depicting a white dove and a barcode on a black, red and white background.

"It's our flag!" Max exclaimed. "Did you make this?"

Fixit looked down at the toe she was scraping along the edge of a floor tile and muttered something unintelligible that Max took to be an affirmative.

Max was impressed at the tiny, perfect stitches in coloured silks that Fixit had used to reproduce Joshua's design. It looked professional, better than. "Wow! This is so great, Fixit. Thank you." Max was really touched and grateful, and really, almost managing not to cry.

"You're upset...seeing it again?" Fixit risked a darting glance at her unusually emotional CO.

"Are you kidding? This is my favourite shirt, and now it's even more awesome," Max assured her, pulling her into a big hug. She released Fixit so she could slip the hoodie on and stroked her hand over the flag.

Fixit turned bright red and grinned, suddenly enthusiastic, unzipping her own sweater to show Max the t-shirt underneath, "Dalton and I made a silk-screen printing press so we could print the flag on t-shirts too. Joshua said it'd be ok his design and we gave him the first one that went right."

"Great idea! How much for two?" Max asked, indicating a sleeping Alec as the recipient of the second.

"How is Alec?" Fixit asked, artfully changing the subject. She wanted Max and Alec to have the t-shirts, but she didn't plan on charging them after all they'd done for her and everyone else in TC.

"They're talking about letting him go home tomorrow."

"That's great," Fixit looked at her watch, it was past ten. "He's still sleeping a lot, huh?"

"Yeah." Max left it there. He should be sleeping a lot, but truthfully he'd woken up several times with nightmares and pain and he hadn't been peacefully asleep for more than an hour. But he didn't need everyone knowing about that.

#

"You were hit?" Alec was aghast. Max had been so excited to show him the embroidered flag that it hadn't occurred to her that he didn't know why it had been needed.

"It was fine, Alec, just a scrape. The sweater came off worse."

"I should've checked you were ok," he berated himself.

"You did check. Right after, you asked if I was ok. It was all you said before you passed out. And it was the first thing you said when you woke up."

She could see he was piecing together the moments after the shooting, "You said it was my blood on you." He sounded angry with himself and she was shocked he was so upset.

"I thought it was. I didn't notice until later. It wasn't a big deal."

"I thought I protected you," he said bitterly, as though he thought he'd failed.

"You did, Alec. You saved my life."

"You got hurt. I thought I got to you in time."

"It was the bullet that went through your arm." She swallowed a wave of nausea, closing her eyes as the memory of him lying bleeding on top of her on the floor of Command overwhelmed her.

"Maxie? You ok?" His voice was gentle again and he caught her hand in his.

She half laughed, half sobbed and when she opened her eyes, he was looking at her in concern.

"That's exactly what you said, you know. You'd just taken four bullets for me. Two of them went right through you, but the one that would have really hurt me, you stopped with the Kevlar vest. I just wish you'd had time to put the vest on. You worry too much about me, Alec."

She freed her left arm from the sweater and rolled the sleeve of her t-shirt back, "Look, it's just a scratch. It's almost gone now."

He ran his fingertips gently over the slightly raised stripe of scar tissue. It was already fading. Max reciprocated the gesture, touching the bandage on his arm where the bullet had hit.

"That bullet nicked your artery. You could've bled to death just from that even without the other three bullets. We were so lucky it happened here and not out on a mission. We'd have lost you. You think I wouldn't have willingly been hurt much worse to spare you all this?"

He shivered slightly at the thought, but acknowledged her point, "You think I'm overreacting?"

Max laughed, "Yeah, just a little." She threaded her arm back into her sleeve and showed him the patch again. "Come on, look how awesome this is. Fixit stitched it herself."

He ran his hand over the flag as he'd run it over the scar a moment before, "That is awesome. Patching a bullet hole too. Kind of an appropriate metaphor, I guess."

"Yeah, it's my metaphorical shirt."

"Your shirt? I guess I'm not getting it back, huh?"

"It suits me better."

Alec nodded, finally managing a smile, "You do look hot in it."

#

Alec was back in their apartment two weeks to the day after the shooting. He still walked with a limp, but the damaged nerves in his back were regenerating and the thigh bone that had been shattered back at Manticore was pretty well knitted by now and he was steady on his feet. He could breathe without need of extra oxygen; he could even get through whole sentences without having to catch his breath, although it was all still a lot more painful than he let on to Max and the others.

He got tired really easily. It was better than it had been, he could generally make it through a conversation now, but that first day home, when Max went to take a bath and he decided he wanted some coffee, by the time he'd walked from their bedroom to the kitchen, put the coffee pot on and waited for it to brew, he was exhausted and fell asleep with his head on the kitchen table before he could drink it.

Max touched his shoulder to wake him. Her jaw was clenched.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" She was wearing only a towel and her hair was dripping water down her shoulders.

"It was just coffee, Maxie."

"I'm supposed to be taking care of you."

"You are."

"Except that you're trying to do everything yourself."

"Not everything. Just coffee. Why are you annoyed?"

He looked genuinely mystified and she sighed. "You were all hunched over on the table. It looked painful."

"Oh. I'm ok." He was a little stiff. But he needed to be doing things for himself again.

"You know this isn't a chore for me, right? You know I actually want to help you?"

He nodded. "I know. I just want you to make coffee when you feel like making coffee, not at my beck and call. I want it to be a normal thing."

"Well, I can do that too." She picked up the cup that had gone tepid and poured it away then refilled it from the pot and made another cup for herself.

"There. I feel like coffee too. Totally normal."

"Thanks Maxie," he replied, rolling his eyes, and not sure whether to be frustrated or touched.

She kissed his cheek and went into the bedroom to dress, rolling her eyes and feeling exactly the same.

#

Since Max had told him she was waiting for a lead on Corrigan, Alec had been working harder than he was supposed to on his physio. It was slow going, frustrating, exhausting and breathtakingly painful but if Max was planning on taking the fight to Corrigan, no way was she going without his back up.

He found himself hoping the guy would stay hidden long enough for him to get his strength back. He didn't want revenge for himself. As much as he knew Corrigan was evil, and as much as Max tried to convince him otherwise, he couldn't help but feel that Corrigan had somehow been an instrument of justice, punishing Alec for his sins.

But Max had been the target, not Alec really, so it was true, he wouldn't mind some payback for what Corrigan had tried to do to Max, but all he really cared about was Max's safety. Taking out Corrigan would go some way to achieving that goal, but so far they really hadn't come out of their encounters with him on the winning side.

So, he worked until he was out on his feet exhausted. He made sure he ate plenty and slept the rest of the time. Max wanted him to take it easy, but he knew when the time came they'd need to move fast and he had to be ready.

#

Max's friends didn't tell war stories, they didn't brag about the missions they'd undertaken for Manticore. Most of them carried too much guilt about the dirty work to take much pride in the patriotism and heroism that had been as much a part of their lives, if not more. In fact, they seemed to cling to those acts of extraordinary bravery like frayed lifelines barely adequate to keep them from drowning in the shame of following brutal and merciless orders, not to mention surviving where comrades had not. They accepted absolute responsibility for betrayals that had been engineered and manipulated from the start but almost no credit for lives they had saved against overwhelming odds.

As she waited for news, Max's thoughts frequently returned to the conversations she'd had with the various high-ups as she'd worked through the list that had been Logan's parting gift. She'd been a little nervous at calling them directly on home or cell phone numbers, having been given such short shrift in her attempts to use official channels with the Seattle authorities since the siege had begun.

But not one of them had refused to talk to her. While they hadn't all been willing to put themselves out to help, they had all remembered the transgenics who had tentatively put their names forward as though even the suggestion that they could be acknowledged was presumption bordering on the offensive. Her friends were strangely diffident considering how bullish transgenics tended to be under other circumstances. She knew this was another area where Manticore's training had left deep scars.

They struggled daily with the past, but Max had burst with pride as she'd heard story after story of daring rescues, selfless sacrifices and breathtaking courage. Especially when she heard the stories that included Alec.

#

Senator Winstone called Max two days after Alec returned home. He wanted to come to Terminal City to talk through the situation, didn't want to do it over the phone. Max was frustrated. The fact that he wanted to come in a few days revealed that there was no real urgency to anything he intended to say and she wanted it to be urgent. She wanted to have a plan. She wanted to have an end in sight.

Once Corrigan was dealt with, she still had White and his Familiars to figure out. They were planning something, she just knew it. Familiars were fanatical, they wouldn't just back off. On top of that, she was still trying to figure out what her runes meant and she had no leads on Sandeman.

She really wanted to make some progress on something. Most of all, she wanted the transgenics to have some hope beyond the current status quo that meant they were pretty safe for now, as long as they lay low and stayed in TC. She still wanted more than that for them.

Alec of course wasn't bothered by the delay. She knew it was because he wanted to be ready to back her in whatever plan she came up with, but she really wanted to get it done before he was up to joining her. She didn't want him there. The thought of him being anywhere near danger again made her feel physically sick. As much as he'd promised to be more careful, she knew he wasn't likely to stand back and watch if she was taking any risks.

She knew he was working too hard on his physio and she didn't know how to stop him. She would ask nicely, and he would nod but then she'd catch him putting in extra time, or she'd just know by how exhausted and pale he was. She could order him or plead with him to take it easy, but part of her knew that wouldn't be fair. She kept trying to tell him that he didn't need to be strong all the time, but he was determined to pull his weight.

She was in a corner. She couldn't hurry Senator Winstone along, he was busy and she was asking for a favour, so by the time the day of the visit rolled around, Alec was up to meeting the senator's request and joining the meeting.

Damn Senator Charles Winstone and his connections.

#

"Kyle, how are you, son!" Winstone shook his hand warmly and slapped his shoulder.

"Good, thanks. But...uh, it's Alec now, sir.

"Alec, right of course, sorry, Max did tell me. It's hard for an old guy to get used to change. Damn, it's been a long time. It's good to see you again."

"Yes, sir."

"And that sounds odd. I guess it would be strange to call me Uncle Charlie again, but maybe we can be on first name terms."

Alec smiled, "Sure, Charlie."

"I was real sorry to hear about Biggs. Max said that was Sam's real name, right."

"Yeah." Alec cleared his throat, touched that Winstone had used the word real about Biggs's name and unsure that his voice wouldn't crack. "Yeah, we lost him a few months ago."

"I saw the news. Damned waste of a life. He was a good boy."

"Yeah."

"I hear you've been having a tough time lately. You're doing ok now?"

"I'm good. Ready to get back in the saddle if you have some news for us."

"Right, down to business-" the senator replied at the same time as Max spoke. "Not back in the saddle!" she exclaimed in alarm.

"Max?" The senator made her name a question.

"Alec's still recovering."

"I'm ready to back you up Maxie."

The senator had heard enough from Max to make him wince in sympathy and wonder how exactly Alec was on his feet so soon. He weighed in, "You're a tough kid. God knows I saw that when you saved my family, injured like you were, but you should listen to Max here. She told me a little bit about what you've been through these past few months."

"We heal fast. Part of the design." Alec insisted. He wasn't going to be pushed around on this.

"Son, you're not indestructible. You should take it easy until you're really back in top condition." Winstone seemed to be showing real concern and it took Alec aback, even more so his use of the word Son. As though he actually thought of him that way.

"Trust me, I served as a young man and I know it's tough to see your friends go into battle without you, but sometimes you have to give yourself time to heal."

"See? Charlie agrees with me," Max smiled at the senator conspiratorially. She took back everything she'd muttered about him.

"I take your point, sir, but could you stay behind if it was your wife going into that battle? 'Cause that's what we're talking about. Max and the others... My family's all I have." He reached for Max's hand and squeezed.

Whoa, wife? Alec thought of her like that? She felt herself glow with warm light.

Winstone took in the expressions on both young faces and their joined hands. He wanted to support Max, she knew Alec best, and even he could see the boy was pretty far from one hundred percent, but he had to be truthful.

"My wife? No, she wouldn't go alone. Over my dead body."

Damn him, Max snorted in disgust.

#

Winstone laid out the situation. Since the publicity had exposed Manticore's dirty secrets to the light of day, there were still some mixed views on the future of its former inhabitants.

There were a few who still argued that the significant investment over the years couldn't just be written off and who believed that it would be possible to spin the publicity back around to bring the public to the view that what happened had been bad, but there was no use crying over spilt milk and, after all, what were the transgenics good for besides fulfilling their destinies as foot soldiers in defence of the country that built them?

There were others who were shocked that so much money had been spent on a project to create clearly dangerous and unpredictable individuals with problematic status. Transgenics should be made to surrender and be interned until it was established which of them were safe to be released into military service, and which were beyond the pale and would need to be put down.

Winstone was one of the few who actually realised they had met transgenics, and had seen and benefitted from their abilities. Owed their lives to these people. Among many uncomfortable feelings, Winstone was embarrassed. He realised he had allowed himself to believe the handlers' insistence that the boys he'd been assigned were of age and had chosen to serve. Winstone was doing penance for having allowed fifteen year olds to risk their lives for him and his family.

And there were others like him who were shocked that the government had sanctioned a project that amounted to slavery and torture of children. These were the voices shouting the loudest right now, buoyed up by the sympathy of the media machine and the resulting public response.

Winstone was doing his best to keep the momentum going, to keep the fair-weather allies on course. He wanted the transgenics recognised as citizens. He wanted them to be given birth certificates and passports. This was going too far for some, but there was some hope that it could happen.

What was uncertain and seemed to be a major sticking point when it came to agreeing a consensus view was how many transgenics were unaccounted for, how many could be working against US interests at this point. Surely they couldn't be given status and a free pass to the American Dream?

Max and her team were unable to satisfy Winstone on this point. They had records showing how many transgenics had been created over the years and how many had died or been "terminated" by Manticore during its semi-official existence.

What they couldn't confirm was how many transgenics had died in the fire that destroyed the complex and released the transgenics, how many had been extra-judicially executed as part of White's crusade, how many had died under circumstances similar to Biggs's lynching, and how many had simply gone to ground.

Nobody was under any obligation to come and live in TC, or even stay there if they had, and while transgenics still joined them in dribs and drabs every day, a handful had decided to leave over the last few months and try their luck in the wide world.

And of course this didn't even account for the rumblings they'd heard that some transgenics who had been out on deep cover assignments at the time of the fire had been brought in from the cold and were still serving remnants of Manticore at some unspecified location. They hadn't been able to verify their existence, let alone their numbers.

It was fair enough, Winstone conceded, but it did present a thorny problem. There was some support for providing the transgenics with status but there was a significant faction who wanted to restrict this status to transgenics who submitted to DNA tagging, for the protection of the general population.

Winstone and his core allies were trying to argue that this was unconstitutional since no other citizen was expected to provide DNA unless they chose to take up a position in one of a number of sensitive professions, such as with the government, medicine or teaching, or if they had been convicted of a crime. All a person was required to do in order to have the right to be issued a birth certificate was to be born. Winstone was working on it.

He did suggest that some additional publicity emphasising their humanity couldn't hurt. The media had moved onto other stories and once a story was out of the limelight, politicians had a tendency to lose interest and go back to their usual bickering over the intractable problem of the budget shortfall for social security and commiserating with each other over the traffic on the Beltway.

Max conceded that it might be possible to do something to raise their positive profile. She'd look into it.

The discussion moved onto Max's main priority. Dealing with enemies.

The intelligence Winstone had turned up suggested that Corrigan was in negotiations with a representative of a shadowy private foundation with interests in arms, mining, the trading of illegal gemstones and endangered species, and, it was rumoured, people trafficking. The Nemo Foundation had been a client of Manticore before the breakout, unbeknownst to the Government department funding the project. Now Corrigan seemed to be on the prowl for funding, from any source, which couldn't be good for anyone.

If he received significant funding and the project ceased to be an adjunct to the US army and became a private enterprise, there was every possibility that those transgenics rumoured still to be under the aegis of this new Manticore would be operating as super-powered mercenaries for an extremely well-funded organisation that could pose a significant risk to the stability of the country.

Something both the leadership of TC and Winstone, as representative of the Federal Government wished to avoid.

Winstone cleared his throat uncomfortably. A message had come to him from the highest level to be communicated to the transgenics. Regardless of the less than ethical circumstances, the government had paid for the food, lodging and education of transgenic children and expected to get its money's worth. Now that many of the children were mostly adults – adults who seemed strangely unmoved by this generous act of charity their government had bestowed – they were to be given to understand that the government expected its citizens, even those without birth certificates or any protection in law to ask not what their country could do for them but what they could do for their country.

Senator Winstone was not a man given to sugar-coating an ugly message. Basically, the transgenics were expected to deal with the Corrigan problem and any of his shady affiliates while the government looked the other way. Once it was satisfied that this unfortunate episode of its past was closed, it would discuss the future of the transgenics.

"I'm sorry, guys. It seems the top brass isn't interested in expending resources on finding this man. They will deal with him through the judicial process if he is found, but that is the extent of it. They don't plan to risk agents or soldiers on tracking a man who may still have a significant transgenic force at his disposal."

Max breathed carefully and clenched her jaw, "What does that mean for us?" she asked. "Are they going to turn on us if this gets bloody?"

"I wish I had guarantees, Max. All I can suggest is that you make damn sure to clean up after yourselves if it does get bloody."

"More government dirty work," Alec muttered and Max put a comforting hand on his knee.

Winstone frowned at Alec's tone. The boy he'd known had been breezy and funny. Serious about his work but at the same time charming enough that he'd stayed just the right side of a tendency to be a smart ass. The young man in front of him now obviously wasn't afraid of pain or death, had been forged in both, but he didn't carry his experiences lightly. The senator had seen files and spoken to Max but it was this that brought home to him what the true cost of the Manticore project had been.

"We'll just hope it doesn't come to that," the senator said sympathetically.

#

Since that day in the warehouse all those months ago, Max had indulged periodic daydreams of revenge. She pictured herself blowing Corrigan's brains out, or maybe snapping his neck with her bare hands, but she knew deep down they were just fantasies. She wasn't going to kill him in cold blood. If she really intended to kill him, she would have done it back when they'd raided Manticore looking for Alec.

Winstone had given them enough information to enable them to track Corrigan to a location and then left them to it. The plan was pretty simple really. They'd get Corrigan cornered and aim to have strength of numbers to neutralise any remaining hench-transgenics so that the cops could take him in and then he could slowly rot in jail for the rest of his miserable life. That wasn't a bad daydream either really. Revenge didn't come much colder than seeing your enemy facing the existential dread of life imprisonment in a six by eight cell.

#

The confrontation was slated for the next day and they sat on the sofa, Max's legs in Alec's lap going over the plans one more time.

"You really ok about taking him out if it comes to it?" Alec asked. It seemed pretty hardcore for Max, but she hadn't flinched from the idea of a full on confrontation with Corrigan when they'd spoken to Winstone.

"If it comes to it." Max was terse, determination in her voice, but her eyes didn't quite meet his in that defiant expression she used when she was really sure of her course. She wasn't looking for revenge, not in her heart of hearts, and he was relieved. They needed to be frosty. It was never a good idea to go into battle emotional.

"If it doesn't though, we'll hand him over."

"Yeah. We'll... There's no way I can persuade you to stay here, is there?" Max asked resignedly.

He squeezed her foot gently, "Would you stay here if things were the other way around?"

"Would you believe me if I said yes?"

Alec smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah that was a long shot. You know you're not up to a big fight, right?"

"I'm aware."

"Will you at least hang back? Be a look out?"

"I'm not gonna put my friends in danger. I know my limits, and I don't want to be a liability. I know I'm not gonna be kicking any transgenic ass right now, but I can't not be your back up."

"Ok. That's fair."

"Really? I was expecting more argument. I had a whole speech planned about family and standing shoulder to shoulder."

Max smiled, "I wasn't expecting you to agree to be back up."

"It was gonna be a good one too. I was gonna reference Henry the Fifth and everything: We few, we freaky few, we band of clones..."

She snorted a laugh, "I figured I didn't need a speech. I was just gonna do the pouty lips and beseeching eyes. You wanna do the speech anyway?"

"Nah. Moment's gone. You know what I do wanna do?"

"What's that?"

"Come closer and I'll tell you."

Max grinned and scooted forwards and his hands found hers and his lips touched hers, softly. He pulled back and their eyes met, smiles fading, and then they pulled each other close, falling into an almost desperate embrace.

It surprised her, how fast the kiss overwhelmed her. It was the first time since he'd been shot that they'd kissed like that. She'd wanted it so much, but he'd been so sick, so weak. She hadn't thought he'd be up to it so soon, but there was strength in the arms that held her, and though his breath came in gasps, so did hers.

Their kiss deepened, and her passion took her. Her mouth opened, inviting his tongue to stroke her upper lip and she drew his hot breath inside her, his oxygen feeding her fire. She allowed her control to lapse, she felt her heart pounding to match his beat for beat, felt the heat focus at her centre and she ground herself against him and lost track of everything but the feel of his hands in her hair, her legs around his waist, the heat of their bodies entwined.

She lost the remaining daylight, two buttons off her shirt, and very nearly her bladder control to that epic kiss. They only came up for air at the sound of banging on the door.

#

Max wondered if anything would ever go their way. No plan was ever foolproof but this one at least had seemed simple.

Senator Winstone hadn't made it home from their meeting. They'd planned to corner and subdue Corrigan and whatever team he had managed to retain. Now they had a kidnap situation and a suggestion from on high that it was their fault and their problem to resolve.

The trouble was that they didn't know what the plan was for Winstone. Was he a hostage? Was a list of demands imminent? Was he to be eliminated as an annoyance or a threat for his support of transgenics? Or was he being turned into a drone who would leave captivity ready to turn on them like Logan had?

Was it even Corrigan's doing? Winstone had publicly declared himself to be on their side. That made him an enemy of all their enemies. Plus, after a lifetime in politics, he had his own. Frankly there were a lot of possibilities.

Alec took it hard, wondering if he'd he saved Charlie Winstone's life only to be the cause of his death just a few years later.

"We'll find him," Max assured him, not entirely sure they would, and certainly not sure what state he'd be in if they did.

"Yeah." Alec didn't sound convinced, sounded as guilty as she'd ever heard him. "He was trying to help us."

"I know."

#

All this coincided with an entirely unwelcome and inconvenient White encounter. Another blindside. White had mustered groups of familiars and had four different TC supply teams pinned down in standoffs around the city. Max paced. Now, of all times? They'd been on tenterhooks waiting for him to make a move and all of a sudden it seemed like everything was coming to a head at once.

She'd planned on overwhelming force of numbers for the Corrigan mission. Now she counted up and it wasn't nearly as reassuring as she'd thought it would be. She didn't want any of the new parents out on dangerous missions. Mothers and fathers were staying with their babies. Expectant mothers and fathers were staying behind too.

The supply teams needed reinforcements to aid their extractions without causing a bloodbath. Max didn't want to lose anyone, and if possible, she wanted everyone home without drawing too much attention. They needed to remain beneath the radar until they had the Corrigan situation under control. That meant five teams. Minus under sixteens and families, that actually meant fairly small groups considering what they could be up against.

Many of the transgenics were torn as well, wanting a piece of both enemies. Between White and Corrigan, they couldn't decide who they hated more.

Max was one of the few who wasn't conflicted. Yes, she hated White, but it was Corrigan and that bastard 972 who held her attention for what they'd done to Alec, and because she was determined to get Winstone back alive so she didn't have to look at that guilty expression in Alec's eyes. And almost automatically she found a team forming around her. Alec was her backup, she couldn't avoid that. Which meant Mole and Joshua were on her team, and Ralph too, looking out for the pair of them. Gem was staying behind with the baby, but Dalton and Fixit too came to her expectantly. Soda, Nila, Fran, Hope, Luke and Dix all volunteered for her team. The guys who somehow always ended up watching her back.

#

Max had thought that Corrigan should have learned something from their last encounter and would be better prepared this time. The ease with which they tracked the senator's location was a worry in itself, suggesting that he was being used as a lure. Or maybe it was the last stand of a desperate man. Or maybe in his calculations his new situation gave him sufficient cover for a degree of confidence. Whatever, it didn't do to underestimate his viciousness, or the damage he could do.

She hoped that it was just that her hacking teams had learned a lot over the past few months, and had refined their skills. She hoped that they were really just that good. Well, actually they were that good. But when had they ever been that lucky?

She was struggling with memories of the last time she'd walked into a trap, led Alec into it with her. The tiny voice belonging to her worst self whispered about leaving Winstone to his fate. She liked the man, and was grateful for his offer of help, but the tiny voice pointed out that he hadn't done anything concrete yet, not really, and he'd got himself taken. It pointed out that there wasn't anybody in TC she wanted to risk for someone she barely knew.

Her worst self was a selfish bitch.

Her best self strangled that tiny voice into silence, but not to death. Both sides of her were as desperately in love with Alec as each other, enough to agree finally that it was in both of their best interests to help the senator, if only to protect Alec's conscience. Still, she knew that tiny voice would be handing out I-told-you-sos with a vengeance if anything went wrong.

#

They were a well oiled machine these days, months of stealth missions were better preparation than all the Manticore drills in the world. They all had real, varied field experience now, and they were able to organise a force at a moment's notice. They had a well stocked armoury and they had vehicles stashed at strategic locations outside the perimeter of TC. And they were fighting for their own reasons, for their right to live in peace in their city.

Still, there was always too much margin for error. Max took a deep breath, trying to bring her pounding heart back under control as she watched her teams gear up and move out. She nodded in turn at those heading for the supply teams and the Familiars and then turned towards her own team.

As they made their way to the truck, Max pulled Joshua aside, "Hey Big Fella, need a favour."

"Sure thing, Little Fella. Watch out for Alec, right?"

Max smiled wryly, "Don't let him out of your sight. He promised he'd be back up and stay out of trouble, but if things get tough..."

"He'll want to step in. Joshua understands. Sit on him if needs be."

"That should do it."

#

Before the pulse, it had been a business district on the outskirts of the city. Tall buildings, money, but it had been a regeneration project back then, just getting on its feet, and pretty far from the main business areas, and so more than a third of the buildings had still been empty when the pulse hit. The authorities had focused on other, more concentrated pockets of wealth, and most of the businesses that had survived had moved to safer areas when squatters started moving in. Thousands of people lived in the empty buildings. Now and then the cops would do a sweep, but it was more of a shakedown than a concerted effort to clean out and bring the businesses back. They were spread thin already and the high ups didn't want to have to police another district with no more money available to fund it. And of course there were some businesses still there. Mostly those that had flourished as a result of the pulse. But generally ones the cops were paid handsomely not to notice.

Their truck was parked in the shadows under a broken streetlight down the street from the building their intel suggested was being used by Corrigan. Alec put a comforting hand on Max's jogging knee. Fran and Soda were on recon, silently scaling the outside of the building to peer through windows and try to get an indication of what was going on inside. The others hung back in the truck, waiting.

When they had confirmation of whether Winstone was alive or dead, they'd know how to approach this. The situation was far from ideal, and Alec knew how much it had rankled for Max to send the others to investigate. But she was the leader; she was waiting for news from the other teams too.

"Hey," he murmured softly, "Save all that energy for later."

She put her hand over his and smiled. "I hate the waiting part."

"You? Surely not! Ms Patience is a virtue whose ass I'm gonna kick?"

She rolled her eyes. "Like you're so relaxed, Mr Where's danger so I can throw myself at it." She could hear the speed of his heart and was acutely aware of the tension in his body.

"The others will be ok. White thinks he's got us all figured out, but last time he was trying to pick us off unawares a few at a time. We know him now. We know his limits."

"His limits aren't that limited."

"Neither are ours. Plus, he's arrogant. He thinks he's superior. He'll underestimate our guys."

"I hope so."

"What else is worrying you?"

Max glanced at the others, not wanting to show her fears in front of her people, but the faces that looked back weren't subordinate soldiers, they were friends, brothers and sisters, all of whom knew her better than to be fooled into thinking she was some tough leader devoid of emotion or weakness.

"If this goes wrong today we could be back where we started, surrounded by a mob that sees us as animals. And worse, we could lose friends in these fights."

"Not like we've got a lot of choice here," Mole pointed out. "We're not gonna scuttle away like vermin, right? Your plan, Princess, make a stand."

"Yeah. I seem to remember you thinking it was dumb plan."

"Doesn't mean it can't work."

"Steady on Mole, that sounded suspiciously like optimism," Callie grinned.

They turned in unison as the truck doors opened and Fran and Soda ducked back inside.

"Winstone?" Alec asked.

"Alive. There's a pretty decent force in there. A few guys we thought were dead."

"How decent is pretty decent?" Max asked, trying to keep the dread out of her voice.

"We clocked fifteen transgenics, but there might be more. Ordinaries too."

"Ok." Max said, thinking.

"Max, maybe we should call for reinforcements," Callie suggested. She was here just in case there were casualties, but she was really hoping she was just a contingency plan. The more the merrier, and the less likely she'd be spending the rest of her day sewing her friends back together.

Soda nodded, "We could check in with the teams, see if anyone can be spared, but I think we need to get in there now, before they bring in more people."

"Maybe wait until some of them move? Hit 'em going in or coming out?" Mole offered.

"What security did they have on the senator? Alex asked, wanting to weigh up the options.

"Couple of sentries on the door. A couple in the room."

"What are you thinking?" Max asked, deferring to Alec's understanding of Corrigan and protective instincts towards the senator.

"They'll have him covered tight if they hear us when we move in. They might kill him if they think he's a liability in a fight. Or he could get caught in the crossfire. And if they get away with him and we lose them... It's risky either way, but better that they're contained, right?"

"Ok, so we're going in. Callie, you're look out in the van. Stay on the radio, report anything weird out here. Ralph? Check in with the teams, see if there's anyone to spare and have them come this way. Let's get ready to move out."

#

Each of the other teams was engaged with the familiars and nobody could be spared. Max was almost tempted to call in reinforcements from TC.

They couldn't afford to wait though, so she gave assignments and led the way out of the truck.

The building had never been legitimately occupied. It had been conceived as a series of suites for high end corporate headquarters, aimed at technology companies spreading north from Silicon Valley, but those companies had been pretty volatile even before the pulse, rising up meteorically and then crashing spectacularly, many floating on the NYSE while still being run by college friends from their parents' basements. They might have aspired to swish offices, but they didn't have the guaranteed capital for that pre-pulse, let alone after the pulse took their legs from under them.

This building was twenty stories high, mainly glass and chrome. In daylight it probably reflected light like a beacon, but in the darkness it loomed and seemed to suck light into itself. The windows were angled and the glass had been treated so that it was impossible to tell which rooms were occupied and which weren't. All of them appeared dark from one angle and light from another. It was a building dedicated to keeping the secrets of its occupants. Very Manticore.

Luke had uncovered a financial trail that linked the building to an offshore shell corporation that was a subsidiary of the Nemo Foundation, the shady enterprise that Winstone had identified as the potential buyer of Manticore's expertise. That they were installed in a property belonging to that company suggested that there was money changing hands already, and that was an additional source of motivation for the TC transgenics. They hoped to persuade any transgenics Corrigan had managed to coax back to come with them, to not trust a corporation that would view them as nothing more than line items on an asset list.

The building housed a number of other subsidiaries, though Fran and Soda had reported that their offices were empty at this time of night, even the cleaning crews having packed up for the night. The only floor currently inhabited was the twentieth floor. The penthouse. Max ground her teeth. Corrigan thought he was landing on his feet, becoming the jewel in their shady crown after everything. Not if she had a thing to say about it.

They snuck in via the sewer into the basement. Their enhanced transgenic vision meant they had no need of flashlights, and they moved silently, like ghosts, barely visible in their dark clothes.

It always felt satisfying to use her Manticore skills and training against Manticore. There was something viciously pleasing about the idea that Manticore scientists had created them to be stronger and faster and more skilled than they were and as hard as they'd tried to keep them controlled and under their thumbs, the transgenics had always found ways, small or large, to assert their independence, clones displaying individuality against the odds.

Yet there was also the feeling of being somehow at home in following Manticore training that was unnerving and difficult to accept. The idea that she was her training, her hotch-potch of DNA and that she could never escape it, not really. She knew it was part of accepting herself, and that was never easy, but Max allowed herself to put it away to be examined later and just enjoy the exhilaration of moving absolutely in sync, trusting implicitly that her family would be there with her in this mission to take back their futures.

They split into groups to cover ground more quickly. Joshua stuck close to Alec, moving like his shadow, keeping him protected on one side by the wall and on the other by his own impressive height and breadth. Max was relieved to see that Alec was allowing the bodyguard routine; so far he wasn't bucking the constraint.

Max gave her orders with looks and hand gestures and each member of the team nodded and fanned out into their positions. Joshua put out a hand and gently touched Alec's chest and they fell back. They were to remain out of sight, on watch and ready to extract the senator as soon as the others had him clear of enemy forces. Max could see from the look on Alec's face how difficult it was for him to let the others go on ahead into danger without him, but he'd promised, and he wasn't balking. She smiled at him, and he managed a tight smile in return. She couldn't resist a quick kiss for luck before she followed the others.

#

"This sucks," Alec whispered. He and Joshua were concealed in a closet close to the maintenance elevators. They'd allowed the others to clear the path ahead and they were to remain hidden until the senator was brought to them. They were then to triage his condition, and either wait with him until the others rendezvoused with them at the truck or get him straight to medical help.

"Sucks, yes." Joshua agreed, though his placid tone indicated that he really didn't think it did.

"Another week and I'd have been fine to go with."

"Hmm. A week, probably."

"Dude, are you humouring me?"

Joshua faced him abruptly, "No! Alec nearly well. Excellent."

"Yeah, so this sucks. You can't say you're happy letting the others go off into the fray without you."

"We're back up."

"That's not an answer."

"Truth?"

"Yeah, truth."

"Joshua understands Alec frustrated. Sucks to be left behind. Not feel useful. But Joshua here with important mission."

"You mean babysitting me? That's an important mission now?"

"Yes. Joshua protect Alec, make sure nothing bad happens this time. Nobody wants to see Alec hurt again."

Alec blew out a sigh. "I shouldn't have come. I can't do anything useful and you should be backing Max up."

"We get the Senator to safety. Not derring-do but not nothing. Max and others can handle selves. Alec ease back into real life. All good."

"All good, huh. I hate this. Max in there without me? It's not natural, man."

"Serves Alec right for getting shot like idiot."

Alec's mouth dropped open in disbelief, "Did you just say...?"

"Kidding. Alec always carries own weight. No shame in not being battle fit yet. Chill. Relax. All over soon, all home, fine and dandy."

"Don't say stuff like that. You'll frigging jinx it!"

"Shh then. Yes sucks, but nothing for it. Wait, be patient."

Alec ground his teeth and Joshua grinned innocently. They waited.

#

Alec checked his watch about every six point four seconds until Joshua growled low in his throat and indicated through hand signals that if he didn't stop fidgeting Joshua would rip his watch off and his hand with it. Alec positioned his wrist so that he could look at his watch without moving his hand.

#

Max felt torn. She was glad Alec was in the rearguard, safe and protected, but she felt exposed without him there beside her. Having started out their acquaintance in a state of constant exasperation with him and accepting his back up only in the absence of anybody better, by now there was nobody she trusted more to have her back in a crisis. Plus, she hated that he was out of her sight. There was no telling what kind of mischief he could get himself into without her there to keep an eye on him. Joshua was a fantastic protector, but he was very easily led by Alec's cockamamie plans. She tried to trust in his ability to follow orders and keep his promise to sit on Alec before he'd let him lead him into trouble.

They'd cleared each floor methodically and silently. It wouldn't do to allow any surprises from below. Max was heading onto the twentieth floor from the north staircase, backed up by Dalton and Luke.

The building was plush, thick carpets, which were awesome for absorbing sounds. Their steps were silent. The walls were a conservative cream, with abstract modern art on the wall. Joshua would hate the paintings, bland and soulless, chosen not to draw attention or offend disparate tastes. They said nothing, just took up wall space. There were lush plants everywhere, but again, they were boring greenery, no style. Max grinned, after all her experience of fencing stolen property, after spending all that time with Logan, it was finally Joshua who was teaching her some cultural discernment.

The most striking things about the building were the floor to ceiling windows of the outer suites that provided a view that rivalled her Space Needle and the central atrium which stretched up from the ground floor to the glass roof.

It was weird that Corrigan was here. Ok, it would be a reasonable place for him to meet clients, but to house transgenics? To train them? Deploy them? Were they all here? It seemed far too quiet for that to be the case. Or did he have another building somewhere else? There couldn't be that many of them still left with Corrigan, but still, it seemed an unlikely place for a military base. Especially a secret one. Too many people around in all those offices below, all those other subsidiary companies. All part of the same overall enterprise, but they couldn't be trusted to keep a secret this big and juicy. There had to be more to all this.

Everything was quiet so far, everyone maintaining radio silence unless they needed back up or were ready for all teams to converge. Max was starting to feel antsy. She wanted to get into it already, figure this bitch out.

As though responding to her impatience, the radio squawked low, and Max lifted it to her ear.

"Team A, come in, this is Team B," Mole's voice sounded loud in the quiet, even though the volume was adjusted as low as it would go.

"Team B, this is Team A. Go."

"Activity in the west quadrant. Have eyeball on the senator. Five unfriendlies in the room. Overheard radio exchange. There's another unit coming this way. Request back up."

"Understood. Team C, this is Team A. Converge with teams A and B in west quadrant. Move now."

"Roger, Team A, this is Team C," Dix's voice responded at once, "On our way."

"Back up team, come in," Max called.

"Team A, this is back up team. Can't we have a better name?" Alec replied in a disgruntled tone and Max melted inside at the sound of his voice, while at the same time rolling her eyes and smiling at the idea that things were back to normal enough that Alec was pissed about the mundane name his unit had been given.

"Team B has eyeball on the senator."

"We heard."

"We're converging in the west quadrant. You know what to do. Oh, and feel free to think up a better name on your way. Max out."

"You heard her. Let's go," Alec went to stand, only to be pushed back by Joshua, who insisted on going first.

"Alec hang back. Joshua taking point. Orders."

"Dude, she's not even here."

"Orders!"

"Doesn't it bother you that you're the expendable one in this mission? You could be the idiot ends up getting shot this time."

"Joshua won't get shot."

"How do you know?"

"Alec magnet for bullets. Joshua never shot."

"Joshua, you're standing in front of me. You're right. I get shot quite a bit. It happens this time? You take the bullet on its way to me. Better to step aside, so only one of us ends up bleeding on the floor."

"Not funny."

"It's a little funny."

"Not even. Shut up and stay behind." Truth was, Joshua might have found it funny if it wasn't true, but he was tired of seeing Alec hurt, and Alec's light hearted words had taken his mind's eye back to a sight he'd tried, unsuccessfully, to forget. At this point, he'd have happily taken a bullet to keep from seeing Alec bleeding on the floor again. Dumbass Alec struggled to wrap his head around Max being worried about him, let alone anyone else. Let alone Joshua, who loved his chosen brother, Alec as much as he'd loved his blood brother, Isaac.

They crept to their designated position someway behind the other teams, within earshot of the action, but out of eyeshot.

The rest of them held their positions hidden in shadows, watching, waiting for the other unit to come to them, knowing they had a better chance if they kept the action contained, nobody sneaking up on them once they were already engaged. Nobody sneaking off and giving the senator the old Colombian necktie while they were distracted, fighting for their lives.

Alec could hear footsteps, knew the others could as well, their transgenic hearing sensitive enough to discern not only numbers, but the relative sizes of each approaching soldier.

A hush seemed to descend, though he knew it was an illusion, more a physiological effect on each of them, the result of adrenaline entering their bloodstreams, readying them for action. Then the first of Corrigan's soldiers entered the room and they all held their breath, not one of them moving so much as a millimetre, waiting to reveal themselves until they could surround and control the fight.

The stillness stretched the seconds out too long, but then there was no need for Max to give the order; their training had honed them to the point that they all knew instinctively the exact moment to pounce.

All at once the room was a blur of boots and fists and the silence was broken by a cacophony of yells and grunts. Quickly, Dalton and Fran broke off, sneaking past the melee and into the room where the senator was being held and between them whisked him around the adjoining corridor out of sight of the main group, dropping him off with Joshua and Alec and following them as far as their assigned look out posts by the exits.

Alec looked back anxiously at the fighting through the internal windows, catching sight of Max's long hair flicking round as she executed a perfect spin kick and then pulling the senator's arm over his shoulder to support him in keeping up with their speedy exit, he allowed Joshua to lead them away.

#

They didn't speak as they made their way out. The building was cleared, but there was always the possibility of reinforcements arriving from outside. They hadn't had the numbers to form a perimeter guard, Fran and Dalton the only warning their people would have inside. They reached the van and Alec placed the senator between himself and the van as Joshua heaved the back door open, then the three of them climbed inside.

"You ok?" Alec asked, his voice a little raspy. Damn, he was breathless just from a few flights of stairs? The senator had some meat on him, but he wasn't exactly a heavyweight.

"Yes." The senator was gasping too, but he had grey hair and they'd been descending the stairs with a lot more haste than he was used to. "Boy, are you a sight for sore eyes. I guess that's a second time I owe you my life."

"Not me," Alec replied, waving a hand dismissively. "The others are doing the fighting."

"Are you ok?" Winstone asked, catching the uneasy tone in Alec's voice, and knowing his thoughts and concerns were with those still in the building.

"I didn't see Corrigan, or the telecoercive. Have they been there?"

"Yes, but I haven't seen them for a couple of hours."

"Did they torture you?" Winstone was taken aback by the matter of fact tone Alec used to ask that question. A question he knew Alec understood in all its subtle cruelty.

"No. They snatched me up on the way back to my office. Corrigan wanted to explain his reasons to me. Wanted me on side. Tried to explain the value of his work. Reckons he has senior officers in the military keen to make use of his transgenic soldiers. Said he was willing to stand down in return for immunity if he got to keep the last of his transgenics so he could continue his research."

Winstone noted the twist of distaste that appeared on both Alec and Joshua's faces. He was taken aback at the sight of Joshua, though he tried not to stare. He'd seen transhumans when he'd come to TC to talk with Alec and Max, but there was something about seeing Joshua up close in all his unrestrained canine glory that really brought home the amazing reality of these creations. The seamless mix of animal and human, the animal characteristics that allowed them to function as the most incredible fighting machines, yet remained under the control of the undeniable humanity. One look at Joshua told him everything he needed to know. Joshua had canine DNA, but he was human, fully and completely in the best sense of the word. Obviously gentle, obviously fiercely protective of Alec, and allowing his protective nature to extend to Alec's friend, the senator, without question.

"Research," Joshua repeated the word like a curse and he and Alec's eyes met in agreement.

"That's not gonna happen," Alec asserted plainly, speaking to both of them but keeping his eyes locked with Joshua's.

"Damn right." The senator chimed in, realising that this could be a defining day for the transgenics, and knowing there were factions who would listen to Corrigan's warped views and believe that they sounded like sense. Winstone had seen the transgenics living as free as possible in TC and he'd seen those who remained under Corrigan's command and he was not going to back down now.

"Did Corrigan introduce you to 972?"

"No. He was there in the room as a threat, but I don't think Corrigan intended to set him loose on me. I got the impression he thought mind control could be counter-productive."

"And you're not hurt?"

"No, just stiff from being tied in that chair. I'm fine. How did you find me so fast?"

"Trade craft. We don't talk about that." The tone and the smile were cocky, but Winstone could still discern the unease in Alec's manner.

"She'll be fine," he tried to reassure, though in truth he had no way of knowing that Max and her team would prevail.

"Yeah." Alec sounded unconvinced. "Callie, you wanna make sure?"

"Thought you'd never ask," Callie replied dryly, not having been able to get near the senator past Alec fussing around him.

"Callie's a telecoercive. She'll be able to tell is if they did anything to you." Alec explained.

"But the telecoercive was just in the room. He didn't do anything."

"It's good you're not hurt, but you might not know if he had done something. In fact, you probably wouldn't. Don't worry. I'm just going to take a quick look around in there. Won't take but a minute and I'll be gentle with you." Callie reassured.

"Ok. Go ahead."

Callie only needed a moment to discover that the senator had escaped the treatment Alec and Logan had been subjected to and she was thrilled that there was to be no repeat of the treatment she'd been required to perform to reverse the effects.

"He's clean."

Both Alec and Joshua's expressions reflected her relief, and alerted Winstone to the seriousness of what he'd been facing.

"What would've happened if he had done something?"

"It's treatable, but you wouldn't like the medicine," was all Alec would say in response.

They fell silent for a moment and startled as one at a sharp knock on the door. Joshua glanced at Alec waiting for his nod before opening it. Sector cops stood outside, forming a semi-circle around the back of the van. Behind them two more police cruisers were coasting in, engines cut.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Alec demanded, before his brain could engage and come up with a more diplomatic response to the unexpected arrivals.

"We'll take the senator to safety now," The middle one spoke, his tone as expressionless as a zombie, face covered by a visor.

A low rumble sounded and Winstone realised he was hearing a growl coming from Joshua, unhappy that these cops were acting as though he and Alec were a threat to the senator. Even more unhappy that they were outnumbered and outside the protection of TC's perimeter fence. He noted Joshua making sure he was positioned slightly ahead of Alec and Callie, ready to protect both of them.

"Senator safe." Joshua announced, quietly defiant.

The cop's voice took on an aggressive edge, matched by his wide stance. "There's army on the way too. Don't make me-"

"Officers, thank you for coming." The senator broke in. "Like the gentleman says, I'm safe. They brought me to safety." He spoke loudly and clearly, making sure there was no room for misinterpretation.

"We're here to take you home," the cop's tone became deferential talking to the senator.

"I'll go with you. I need to call my wife. She'll be worried. But I'm staying with your command unit. Wait outside a minute." The cop looked unhappy and shifted his weight slightly forward; an aggressive movement aimed at the transgenics. The senator motioned to Joshua, who pulled the doors shut.

"I can't thank you guys enough. I'm going with them now, but that doesn't mean I'm on their side. I know how some of those guys have treated transgenics but I need to be with the sector cops and the army so I can make sure nothing goes wrong for all of you."

"You told us we'd be in this alone. We're comfortable with that. We don't like the rules being changed on us." Winstone could hear Alec trying to keep accusation out of his tone, but he was obviously wary.

"Me neither, Alec. Trust me, I didn't know they'd be moving in like this when we talked about you going in to take Corrigan. I don't know if it's because of the kidnapping or if this was always their plan, but trust me when I say I will get to the bottom of it. They'll stick to the original agreement, I'll make sure of it. You guys secure the targets, and the city will take them into custody. They will not move on you and yours."

Alec met the senator's eyes for a moment and then nodded, satisfied.

"Alec, I won't ever forget what you've done for me, and not just today."

Alec held his gaze for a moment, and then nodded. He'd take Winstone's word that the cops weren't here for them. They would let them go. He was just tense at the sight of them outnumbering Callie and Joshua. Especially when he wasn't at his best.

Joshua opened the door again and the cops moved in close, one of them putting out an arm to help Senator Winstone down. "Thanks guys. I'll see you when this is all over. And then we'll see what's what."

#

About to pull the door shut and go back to stewing on what was going on with Max and the guys inside, Alec was suddenly grateful for the arrival of the cops to take the senator off his hands because it meant that he wasn't fixing to abandon his post when the three of them spotted figures dressed in black heading swiftly and silently down the side of the building, strangely unmolested by the city's forces. They moved like transgenics, but they definitely weren't TC transgenics.

"Josh. Don't make me argue with you."

"No arguing. Joshua and Alec back up unit. Time to back up."

"Guys," Callie warned. She was going to be in so much shit with Max if she let them go.

"You stay here, in case there are casualties," Alec urged, hand on the door.

"Yes, I'm staying here," Callie agreed. "Because I know how to follow orders!"

"Call the other teams, ok? If anyone's free now, tell them to get over here. Relax Callie, it'll be fine, we're just going to check everything's going to plan." Alec grinned and Callie rolled her eyes. There was no point in trying to make them stay, and Mole was in there. She had the ovaries to face Max if it meant her man had a couple of extra transgenics backing him up.

#

Corrigan's first units had been a mixture of transgenics and ordinaries, and Max's teams had been able to take them on. Once the senator was secured, the fight had been loose and they had spread across the west side of the building. As they took down more of the soldiers, Max realised that those who were left were trying to shift them away from the south corridor, which of course meant she wanted to know what was in the south corridor.

They'd managed to lay all the ordinaries out and most of the transgenics before the reinforcements had arrived. The reinforcements were all transgenics, and now they were tired; she'd admit it to herself, they were struggling.

#

Alec watched Joshua's boot disappear round the corner of the staircase. He was doing his best to keep up, but he was tired, his thigh burning, knees shaking, breath sawing painfully in and out of his lungs.

Still, he hadn't spent all those years in Manticore learning to play Xbox soldier. He was the real deal. He gritted his teeth and pushed himself on, somewhere finding a little more speed so that he was right on Joshua's heels as they reached the top floor.

They followed the carnage of soldiers laid out on the ground, ordinaries and transgenics, and were relieved to see that none of them were their own. Then they followed the noise and within moments they were in the thick of it.

"Alec, stay back," Joshua urged, pulling a soldier off Dalton and knocking him out with one punch.

Alec would have done what Joshua suggested, hanging back until needed, not wanting to get himself into a position where he made things worse and needed rescuing, but there were too many of them, swarming around their people, most of whom were now fighting two soldiers each, and before Joshua could remonstrate with him any further, they were both fighting.

#

Max was still trying to get to the south corridor, but to no avail. Every time she got herself free of one soldier, she found another in front of her. Fran and Dalton, who were supposed to be look outs were now fighting too, and she was starting to wonder if getting the senator out was a job well done, and maybe they should be trying to make a dignified exit, so they could live to fight another day.

The question was, would they even be able to extract themselves? Their only advantage seemed to be the passion they were fighting with. They were fighting for their freedom. Their opponents? Who knew what they were fighting for? Not to be tortured? Not to be killed? Those motivations had seen them all through their years at Manticore, but compelling as they were, they weren't as effective as knowing you were fighting for home, for family.

#

As he took on his third challenger, Alec was tired and hurting and seriously wondering if they'd make it until reinforcements arrived. The transgenics they were fighting didn't seem quite as committed to their cause as the TC transgenics did, but that didn't stop their punches and kicks from landing brutally and with unerring accuracy on barely healed wounds.

He landed a spin kick and watched with some satisfaction as blood arced from a suddenly deformed jaw and the dark haired brawny X-5 in front of him went down with a groan. His satisfaction was short lived, however, as he felt a presence behind him, turned and found himself facing the telecoercive.

972's kick felt like a truck hitting him. Alec was sure he heard something crack inside as he slammed into the wall. His knees folded and he slid down, gasping vainly for breath. He wasn't up to this fight and he knew it, but fate didn't seem to want to take that into account. When had it ever? The others were all engaged, the sounds of fists and boots hitting flesh, grunts and curses as blows connected. He coughed weakly, just getting enough air to keep from passing out.

972 crouched in front of him, smirking, and suddenly his hand was around Alec's throat, choking him.

"You shouldn't have come here 494. You're going to die here today and then we're going to kill your friends and your little girlfriend. All the others will beg us to take them back. Some of them will be invited back. Some of them they'll let me take. Examples. I'll tear their minds apart." The savage cruelty of his words were reflected in the utter lack of compassion in his eyes.

When the story of Manticore had broken in the news, the angry mob had thought they'd seen inhumanity in the very existence of the transgenics, but if they'd have been able to see 972, up close, they would have understood they'd never seen it before and, if they'd lived, they'd pray to whatever higher power allowed them to sleep at night never to see it again.

Alec struggled, clutching at the choking hand but he could get no purchase. His body screamed for air. His vision tunnelled and his hearing drew in until all he could hear was his own rushing blood, until all there was in the world was 972 and him.

"You're not going to die easy though. None of you will. I don't work with Corrigan for the cash. I get to have fun with him. Today you're my treat."

Sarcastic retorts teemed in Alec's mind, fighting off the chill 972's words stirred in him. It figured that even dying, his brain would head for the lower ground. Too bad he couldn't make them heard.

Then 972 loosened his hold just a little, enough for Alec to take a breath. Before he could collect his thoughts, 972 tipped his head to the side and caught Alec's eyes with his own and pain exploded in his head, a million images racing across his vision and he was back in Manticore, no way to escape, no hope of rescue, nothing but pain and pain and pain.

#

Max saw Alec engage with 972 and swore, taking an unexpected punch in the jaw as reward for her distraction. She threw one in return, her opponent's head snapping back with a satisfying crack. Alec wasn't supposed to be fighting. He wasn't ready for this. What the hell was Joshua thinking, letting Alec out of his sight? She looked around and saw that everyone was fighting, look outs included. How had Corrigan mustered this force?

She circled the man in front of her, both of them wary. Max was bleeding from a split lip and the man raised a hand to wipe blood from his nose. He struck again and they exchanged a quick flurry of blows and kicks until they were both on the ground, struggling for dominance. For a moment he had her pinned, then she got a lucky knee to his groin and he rolled off her with an agonised cry. She flipped onto her feet and took him out of the fight with a well placed kick to the head, knocking him unconscious.

She turned back to Alec and her heart pounded painfully as she spotted him on the ground leaning against the wall with 972's hand around his throat. She went to blur to him only to be held back by a hand grabbing her wrist, spinning her back and she was fighting again, desperately, using every dirty trick she could think of. She had to get to Alec.

Trouble was, these transgenics had been out in the world and had learned some dirty tricks of their own, and suddenly she found herself lying on her back, hands pinned above her head and a knee in her stomach. She heaved awkwardly, trying to tip him off, but he was heavier and she couldn't shift him. She growled in frustration. She had to get to Alec, she couldn't think of anything else.

The soldier pinning her used his free hand to grab her hair and slam her head into the floor, dazing her, and she realised that to help Alec, she'd need to put him out of her mind for a moment and focus solely on dealing with her opponent.

She couldn't get her hands free and with his heavier frame weighing her down, she couldn't get any leverage. He went to slam her head again and she knew if he knocked her out, it was over. She took advantage of his focus and shoved her legs up as hard as she could, tipping him higher up onto her abdomen, then she quickly locked her freed legs around his neck and pulled him off balance, rising with his downward momentum and freeing her hands as he lost the advantage of gravity. Still using her legs, she slammed him down into the ground and followed up with a heel kick to his face.

Snapping up to her feet just as he did, she engaged again. His body blow winded her badly and she doubled over, but as he leaned down, grabbing her hair, thinking he had her beaten, she played her dirtiest trick and poked him in the eyes. He reared back with a scream and she finished him with a solid roundhouse kick to the head. He went down in silence.

She finally turned back to Alec, terrified of what she'd see. 972 wasn't next to him anymore, instead fighting desperately against an enraged Joshua. Alec was still sitting on the ground, back against the wall, his knees raised. He wasn't fighting, he wasn't even moving.

"Alec!" Her panicked call didn't rouse him and she ran to him, shoulder charging another of Corrigan's soldiers towards Mole for summary dispatch.

She dropped to Alec's side and put a hand on his leg, "Alec?"

His eyes were open, and there were bruises already coming up around his neck, but he was breathing ok. He was conscious, but seemed totally unaware of what was going on around him. His body was rigid, his eyes fixed on something she couldn't see and his lips moved soundlessly. She put a hand to his cheek, "Alec, answer me! You're scaring me. Can you hear me?"

He didn't respond and a moment later he flinched and gasped as though he'd taken a vicious blow. 972. That bastard had done something to Alec, trapped him in some sort of waking nightmare.

"Alec, come on, please, come back to me!"

Nothing. She opened her mouth to try again and was pulled away roughly and thrown to the ground. She grunted painfully at the impact and rolled over to see her attacker.

"I don't have time for this," she growled, "Back off and I won't have to kill you!"

He snorted derisively and moved into a defensive stance. She knew this guy from her second stint at Manticore. One of the other X5s she'd been paired with a couple of times for sparring. X5-327. One of the ones who'd never felt the need for a name of his own. At least she knew his moves. Unfortunately, he knew hers too. They circled warily, sizing each other up, but Max was impatient and went in for a kick. 327 was ready and caught her leg, throwing her down again. She swept her free leg as he shifted for a good position and took his legs out from under him. They both flipped to their feet, kicking, punching, mostly blocking each other, but occasionally landing or taking a stinging blow.

He got in a lucky kick to her sternum and she flew back into the wall, winded. She staggered to her feet. Man, she was getting tired. He pressed his advantage with a left hook that snapped her head to the side and had her seeing stars.

She shook her head, trying to clear it and reacted purely on instinct when he came closer and he grunted in surprise as she landed a vicious upper cut and jabbed her knee into his belly.

She risked a quick glance around. Nila was struggling to his knees, the X6 girl who'd put him there taking a pounding from Soda and Fran. Joshua and Ralph were double teaming 972, trying to keep him from getting eye contact, but he was as sneaky and brutal a fighter as he was a torturer and they had their hands full.

Mole was fighting two of them, a broad shouldered machine of an X5 and a sinuous transhuman woman with the look and manner of a snake. Mole was holding his own, but Dalton and Hope were both down, Hope's leg a very unnatural shape and Dalton propped in her lap, not moving.

Fixit and Zero were still fighting; Luke and Dix too. A fair number of Corrigan's second wave was down for the count, but most were still in the fray.

And Alec. He was still lost in whatever hell 972 had sent him to.

Max turned back. There was nothing she could do for Alec until they were secured. 327 had recovered himself and they circled again, and then her heart sank as 972 joined him. She saw past him, Joshua and Ralph both sitting on the floor staring blankly into space. Shit. She didn't look at the telecoercive, keeping him in her peripheral vision.

She fought hard, but they quickly overpowered her and she found herself crowded back towards the barrier that followed the edge of the atrium and in a sudden, awful moment, her stomach lurched as 327 just grabbed her up and threw her over the barrier.

She let out an involuntary and undignified scream of panic as she reached for the railing, and her fingertips slid off the smooth surface and then she was falling. In a split second she calculated the distance. Too far. She'd be smashed to pieces on the shiny marble tiles of the lobby floor, twenty storeys below.

#

Alec was trapped in Manticore. No way to escape his bonds, no way to defend himself against the blows or to block out the pain. He'd never escaped, he would be there always. The laser burned through his eye and into his brain, the excruciating pain overwhelming coherent thought. He couldn't plan, he couldn't protect himself. He couldn't even blink.

He was so cold. It was always so cold in here. His fingers were clumsy with it, his lungs ached with it. The pain increased, swelling and flooding him, skin tearing, bones breaking, his brain burning and he screamed, no way to hold it in.

His head was full of screams and they were the screams of his victims as much as his own.

He deserved this pain. Whatever Max said about who was the weapon and who was the murderer, he knew he deserved it. He listened to the screams and watched the images flash through his mind. He knew them. He knew which scream belonged to which victim, even though in reality most of them hadn't screamed; death had come swiftly. If they had to die, he didn't draw it out. He'd never enjoyed their pain. He'd been merciful at least... unless he'd been ordered not to be. The screams took his breath away. This was the worst of the torture, hearing those screams for hours and days and weeks, the sound overwhelming him until it was all he could hear even in the silence.

And then another voice broke through, rising above the others, no louder, no more agonised or more terrified than the others but it reached him anyway. It reached him because he knew that voice as well as his own. Max. And she was real and she was now, and her scream meant she needed him.

His eyes snapped into focus as she went over the edge and without a moment's thought, without even processing the knowledge that he was free, he followed her.

#

Alec vaulted the rail and as he grabbed on with his left hand, he caught her wrist with his right and held on tight.

#

Max had time enough to realise she was going to die and then she wasn't. A strong, warm hand gripped hers tightly and she wasn't falling. She was safe.

#

As the tension bit Alec's chest exploded with pain, the scarred muscles stretched taut over still healing ribs, and he was sure his sternum would tear open.

He gritted his teeth and clung on, and then sudden agony in his left hand threatened to break his grip. He looked up just as 972 slammed a gun butt into his hand for a second time. He held tighter, doing his best to drown out the pain. There was no way he was letting Max fall.

"Alec! Oh god, you have to let me go! You're gonna hurt yourself!" Max begged.

"No way! Hang on Max. Agh!" He cried out involuntarily as the gun slammed into his hand again. His chest was tight with pain and it was hard to breathe. He needed help but he had no strength to spare to shout. As though reading his mind, Max yelled out.

"Help! We need help over here!"

She knew she could swing herself up to grasp the railing herself but she was scared she'd hurt Alec, or worse, dislodge his grip. She couldn't just hang here, weighing him down, tearing him apart. She didn't know what to do. She knew he wouldn't let go voluntarily.

Suddenly there was a pained grunt from above and the hand holding the gun disappeared from view. Then Alec was slowly, painfully hauling her up. She stretched the tips of her fingers on her free hand, trying the reach the rail that much sooner to relieve the strain from him. Her fingers scrabbled on the smooth metal for a moment, then she grasped it firmly and took back her weight gratefully, putting her efforts into helping him pull himself up. She placed a supporting hand on Alec's back as he finally slid over the barrier and landed in an ungainly heap on the floor.

#

Max got her feet underneath her and glanced around. 972's gun lay on the floor and Mole was fighting both the telecoercive and 327. Aware of Alec's laboured breathing, she turned back, putting a hand out to help steady him as he gathered his strength in preparation for an attempt to stand.

As her hand brushed his, she heard the click of a gun being cocked and her head snapped around again. Mole was on the floor now, trying to hold off 327 while 972 was right in front of them, a second gun in his hand, pointed right at them.

And slightly behind him, Corrigan stood flanked by two bodyguards, a self-satisfied expression on his face.

972 glanced at Corrigan, who nodded briefly, allowing him to take the lead.

Alec sat on the floor, his back against the wall and 972 regarded him with curiosity, "You broke my hold. How did you do that?"

Max's eyes darted to the gun on the ground, only a couple of yards from her position. She could get there fast, but 972 was a transgenic too and he already had a gun in his hand.

She caught Alec's eye and the split second of contact was enough for them to communicate their plan. They needed to keep the telecoercive's focus distracted. "What can I say? You're not that compelling." Alec smirked.

"I don't know. I think I can keep your attention if I try a little harder."

972 tried for eye contact again, but Alec kept his eyes averted, watching the gun in the telecoercive's hand.

Max inched towards the gun on the floor. She hated this, she hated that Alec was the diversion. She wanted 972's attention on her, but Alec wasn't up to full strength, he hadn't even made it to his feet yet. There was no way they could switch roles. She risked another tiny step.

She spared a glance at Corrigan a step or two behind his telecoercive, looking on. He was trying to appear aloof, but she could hear his heart pounding and his expression was a combination of excitement at their discomfort and concern for himself. He made her feel nauseated. He was a puppet master, too cowardly to fight, but happy to watch, happy to inflict pain on those stronger than him using borrowed strength. He made the plans, he gave the orders. She hated him more than she hated 972. More than she'd ever hated anyone in her life.

She forced herself to put him out of her mind. While he had his soldiers fighting hers, and while he had his telecoercive standing between them, he wasn't a direct threat. He was just there enjoying the show. She turned her attention back to Alec.

"I don't know man, we've just gotta face facts. We gave it four months and it just didn't take," Alec shook his head sadly. "But I don't want you to feel bad. It's not you, it's me."

Max would've sniggered if she wasn't so freaked out. 972 growled in annoyance and Max risked another step. Alec was in danger of distracting 972 from her to the point where the telecoercive would just go ahead and kill him out of sheer annoyance.

"Funny. You weren't laughing when I put those screams in your head."

Max glanced at Alec. He was still smiling, but his expression had frozen. He wasn't enjoying this, not even a tiny little bit. Screams? What was 972 talking about?

"What's your story?" Alec asked curiously. "You're a transgenic. What do you get out of working with this guy?" He indicated Corrigan with a nod.

972 smiled an ugly smile, "This. This is what I get." 972 gestured at the chaos around them. "I rule you. I snap my fingers and you jump to attention or collapse on the floor. I tell you to do something and you're puppets."

Alec shook his head pityingly, "That's the best you can hope for yourself? You have no imagination, man."

"No imagination?" She could see the telecoercive's frustration at not being able to get eye contact with Alec, not being able to wrest control. His voice became a malevolent hiss. "You thought insects were crawling under your skin! You thought-" 972's gaze snapped to Max as she shifted closer again to the gun on the floor. "Stop right there 452 or your boyfriend's dead!" 972 warned as he readjusted his aim at Alec's head.

Max almost froze in panic, but Alec recognised his opening and rolled to his feet as 972 followed his movement with his gun, and Max dove for the discarded gun on the ground. Alec blurred to the left as 972 squeezed off a round that went wide, while Max scooped up the heavy steel weapon from the floor, settling it in her hand as though nothing was more natural to her, snapped the safety off as she drew her aim and fired.

972's face registered nothing but surprise as her bullet found the centre of his forehead with lethal accuracy and he collapsed to the floor, dead.

Max let her arm fall to her side, still gripping the gun loosely and Alec moved closer, allowing the edge of his hand to stroke hers and they contemplated their fallen enemy.

972's eyes stared out at them, fixed and glassy, but there was no power in them now.

#

For a moment Corrigan looked at them, stunned, then he seemed to gather himself, indicating to his bodyguards that they should draw weapons as he stepped closer.

Max checked Alec's position, moving forward, aiming to get between him and Corrigan. Over her dead body would these animals hurt Alec again. But Alec moved with her, simultaneously refusing to let her risk harm for him any more than she would willingly accept the reverse, and demonstrating his defiance to the man who had almost tortured him to death.

"Touching. Protecting each other." Corrigan tapped his cheek thoughtfully. "How do you know what you're feeling is real? How do you know I didn't have that affection planted it in you? Something to develop Renfro's idea of matching you two as breeding partners. I've had quality time with both of you, you know."

Alec cast a worried look at Max. Not long ago, she might have been concerned that he was questioning her feelings. Corrigan was trying to push a wedge of uncertainty between them, but Max knew they were solid. Alec was just worried that Corrigan had hurt her. She returned his look and conveyed her response with a soft smile and a barely perceptible shake of her head and Alec relaxed, understanding she was ok. Whatever she'd been through during her captivity with Renfro, it didn't matter anymore. If they'd implanted anything, they would have used it by now. He smiled, a little cocky and very proud, like he knew his Maxie wouldn't be broken by the likes of Corrigan. His Maxie. She loved being that.

Corrigan snorted in frustration and disgust, bringing a smile to both their faces. Then his expression changed, ready to try one last gambit.

"You know, I was never going to let 972 kill you. I knew you'd come for the senator. I knew after that first mission that Kyle wouldn't want any harm to come to Uncle Charlie. I've been making plans and you and your friends' presence here is a big part of those plans." His voice was unctuous and complacent. It took him longer than it should have to realise that Max and Alec were no longer paying him any attention.

#

All around them, Corrigan's transgenics were dropping their guards and falling under punches, or looking around them as though they had no idea where they were or what the hell was going on. Joshua and Ralph were helping each other to their feet. Corrigan's bodyguards were looking at their guns with confusion, as though they'd suddenly realised their weapons had transformed into bananas.

Max took a step towards Corrigan and he finally noticed that his protection was no longer standing menacingly beside him, but looking at him with detached curiosity, wondering what he was going to do next.

"Raise your weapons, soldiers!" He ordered, and they just blinked at him, making no move to obey.

"I gave you an order!" He commanded, his voice rising at the end, as he realised he was the only conscious ordinary in a room full of transgenics and those he'd considered his property were suddenly malfunctioning.

"What's going on?" Max asked, bewildered.

"They weren't following his orders," Alec whispered, "They were following his." He pointed at the dead telecoercive.

Max didn't need more than a second to adjust to this new idea. Transgenics were standing around in need of something to do. This was exactly what she was built for.

"All you transgenics who were working for this guy," She shouted, "You're free now. You can go wherever you want. But we've got a home and a family and you're welcome to join, if you pull your weight, and stop beating on my brothers and sisters!"

She waited a moment to judge the impact of her words. Everyone was listening, Corrigan's transgenics standing side by side with hers, all of them bloody and breathing heavily, but not one of them looking like they intended to do more damage.

"We're taking Corrigan and his ordinaries into custody. There are charges pending against him. He's going to jail. Before we go, I want to know what's in the south corridor. You guys were protecting it. I'm going to look now. If you try to stop me, my guys will stop you. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am!" came the chorus. Max suppressed a grin.

"Excuse me ma'am? Permission to speak?"

She turned to the voice. 327 was shifting from foot to foot awkwardly.

"The name's Max, not ma'am. Go ahead."

"Max. There's more transgenics in the suite back there. Locked up. They're traitors."

"What makes you think they're traitors?"

"He told us they..." 327 tailed off as he pointed at Corrigan and his brow furrowed in uncertainty. "He said we had to guard them. That they were dangerous...Do...Do you think they're dangerous?"

"They are dangerous, 327, and 452 and her band of renegades are just as dangerous. You know what you need to do with traitors!" Corrigan broke in, the desperation of his situation making him bullish, when wisdom would have dictated that he keep his mouth shut and practice being inconspicuous.

"So when you say dangerous, you mean they wanted freedom," Max replied, disgust clear in her tone.

"They don't know what they want," Corrigan snapped, his arrogance preventing him from deferring to transgenics, regardless of his precarious position. "None of you knows what's good for you. Those transgenics were going to fulfil their potential. They are soldiers, bred to fight, bred to kill! They were going to fight for causes all over the world!"

"You mean you were going to brainwash them and sell them as mercenaries to the highest bidder!" Alec accused. "That's what this place is, isn't it? It's a goddamn showroom!"

Every face in the crowd whipped back and forth between Corrigan standing alone and Max and Alec, standing shoulder to shoulder.

"It's over Corrigan. The cops and the army are outside waiting for you. You've got no hold over transgenics anymore. You've got nothing!" Alec's voice was low and dangerous, and Max knew that he was on a knife edge, remembering what he'd been through on Corrigan's orders, having relived it all only moments ago at the telecoercive's hands.

Faces around them reflected the same anger, the same unpredictability. Alec she trusted to keep his cool, but if there was the slightest threat from Corrigan, any one of the others could take it as an excuse to rip him apart.

"You're going to take us to the others." She ordered, taking charge while she could still keep things from getting out of control. "Then we're handing you over."

"I don't take orders from transgenics. You take the orders!" Corrigan insisted, but everyone in the room heard the shake in his voice.

"It's a brand new day Corrigan. You walk or you get dragged. Either way, you're not leaving my sight."

#

The south quadrant wasn't nearly as plush as the rest of the floor. The carpet became white tile, the walls were free of bland art works, and there were no window at all. Clients didn't come back here. They freed forty seven transgenics from the holding cells. Some of them were Max's age or a little younger. A few of them were no more than four or five years old.

Corrigan's desk diary indicated that the first clients were scheduled to come in and view the merchandise at the end of the week. The days leading up to that were blocked out for his work with Senator Winstone.

Corrigan had been hedging his bets. If he hadn't been able to persuade Winstone, he had his contingency plan in place. In fact, it seemed he was intending to use his contingency plan as leverage to achieve plan A: to sell the US Government back what it considered its own property.

#

Max and Alec took Corrigan out of the building between them, assuming the privilege of rank to have the satisfaction of handing him over to Winstone and the cops that stood with him. They waited to hear him being read his rights, and then they rejoined their friends.

Their reinforcements had finally arrived fresh from their confrontations with the familiars. They'd extracted their comrades, and were relieved to report only minor injuries, no fatalities. They'd inflicted a little damage on the familiars in return, but the stand offs had turned into desultory skirmishes, the sides to evenly matched for either to achieve a decisive victory and in each case, both sides had retreated to regroup. White himself had been nowhere to be found. Another fight for another day. They'd raced to join Max and her team, but had arrived too late to help with the fight, though they were just in time to ferry their new acquaintances back to Terminal City.

#

They'd come off amazingly well, considering the forces they'd met. By the time they got their wounded to Medical, Dalton had regained consciousness, though he was still a little groggy, and having been given a shot of morphine, Hope seemed fascinated by the shape of her leg and keen that everyone got a chance to look at it before it got manipulated back to its normal angle. Callie fussed around an outwardly embarrassed but secretly pleased Mole, putting extremely neat and careful stitches in the gash on his forehead.

Max insisted that Alec be checked out too, in spite of his assertions that he was fine. She hovered nearby, biting her lip as he perched on the edge of the exam table and gingerly pulled his t-shirt over his head, trying to hide a wince.

"Fine, huh?" She pushed.

"Just a little tender," he reassured. He was pretty sure he was fine, but Max was worried, and he knew he wouldn't be able to talk to her about how she was doing with having killed 972 until she was satisfied.

"They threw me off the balcony and Alec followed me over the rail and grabbed my hand to keep me from falling," Max explained. "He was holding my weight and his own."

"I'm ok," Alec repeated.

"You better be. We worked really hard on putting you back together," Callie warned, pressing gently on the ribs of his back underneath each of the three small round scars and on his chest under the larger exit wound and either side of the long scar over his sternum. He half-suppressed a hiss and her gaze flew to his face, checking his reaction.

"Just strained," she grudgingly agreed, moving on to check his arm and finding it similarly overtaxed, but not damaged. "Your shoulders hurt?" she asked, moving his arms in turn to check the rotation of the joints.

"It was Max I was holding onto, not Josh." Alec pointed out.

"Yeah, and your own weight too. You might still be a little on the lean side, but it's not been that long since they were repeatedly dislocated." Callie reminded him of the damage he'd taken while a prisoner of Manticore.

"I thought it was all going to be ok, nothing to worry about, you were just going to make sure everything was going to plan?" She asked when he didn't reply.

"We were outnumbered," Max replied and Callie could hear the self recrimination in her voice. "Everyone ended up fighting."

"Well your shoulders seem ok."

"Told you," Alec muttered.

"Take a look at his hand," Max urged, "That bastard 972 hit him with a gun, tried to make him let go."

"You know Max took a beating too," Alec deflected. "Everyone did. Hope broke her leg and Dalton was out cold. Mole's got one of those photogenically positioned movie wounds over his eye. You should be looking after them. You don't need to make a big deal out of me." He was embarrassed at the attention. Ok, he'd needed some help after Manticore and the shooting, but this was definitely over the top.

Callie looked up at Max, taking in the tiredness and bruising and satisfying herself that Max's posture indicated that the blows she'd taken were nothing a transgenic wouldn't take in her stride. "I'll just ignore him, ok Max?" Callie said.

"That's what I do when he insists on talking nonsense," Max replied.

"Cam and Jin are taking care of Dalton and Hope. I've already stitched up Mole's movie wound. Now I'm checking you over." Callie insisted, lifting his hand in hers carefully and examining the deep bruising.

Ok, Alec was willing to admit to himself that his hand was pretty painful, and he clenched his jaw so he'd be ready when she prodded at it.

"You can move your fingers?"

"Do I have to?" He asked.

"Humour me."

Alec flexed his hand and then made a loose fist, not quite able to keep the wince from showing on his face. Callie winced in sympathy. She was pretty sure his hand wasn't broken, but he must have been hit with some force to cause that much damage.

"Put some ice on it. Should heal pretty fast." She reassured him, dropping a handful of painkillers in his good palm.

"Thanks," he grudgingly replied, downing them without water.

"You're welcome," Callie replied, ignoring his tone. She knew how sick he was of being fussed over. "Anything else I need to know about?" she asked.

"The telecoercive-" Max began.

"It's fine," Alec interrupted, anxious not to go down that route.

"He put the whammy on a few of us." Max continued, talking over Alec. "Joshua and Ralph just looked dazed, but I think Alec-"

"It was just a flashback. It's over now." Alec insisted.

Max wanted to push it and get Callie's professional opinion, but Alec looked like he was about to bolt, so she let it go for now.

"Are we done?" He asked. He was feeling suddenly trapped and he really wanted to leave.

Callie looked at him appraisingly. He looked shaken by Max's mention of the telecoercive. Must have been a hell of a flashback, but Max was backing off and she knew him best. Physically Callie had done all she needed to. Anything else was up to him. It wouldn't help to force it.

"Sure. Go home and rest."

He nodded and slipped off the table, making for the door like the enemy was on his tail.

"Alec," He paused as Callie called after him, "Consider that an order. Any of you gets injured, from now on you're not fit for duty until I clear you. Is that understood?"

He looked at Max, wondering if she'd view this as a challenge to her authority and found only raised eyebrows aimed at him. Of course she'd take Callie's side.

"Fine. Then tell Max she's gotta wait until you clear me before she's allowed to come up with any more cockamamie plans that get her tossed off balconies."

Callie shrugged at Max, "You heard the man."

#

Max waited for Callie, Cam and Jin to consult so she could get an inventory of injuries. They'd checked over Joshua and Ralph, and they were both fine after their run in with 972. Other than that, between the teams that had faced Corrigan's transgenics and those who'd taken on the familiars, there had been one or two cracked knuckles, a couple of broken ribs, a few sutures here and there and a bunch of ice packs. The medics were moving on to checking out the new arrivals, making sure no one had any faulty wiring that could lead to fun and games in the next few days, and Joshua had taken charge of the children, making sure they were fed and feeling safe.

Max picked up a couple of ice packs for herself and Alec and they stopped in to check on Hope and Dalton. Dalton looked a little green around the gills from his concussion, and Hope had a huge cast on her leg, but both of them were going to be fine and they had plenty of company, so Max and Alec made their way home.

They slumped onto the sofa with matching groans and Max handed Alec his ice pack. He put his straight on his sternum, but Max was hard pressed to decide where she ached the most. Alec was right, she had taken a beating, and now that she knew she didn't need to worry about him quite so much, she was really feeling it.

She settled on her sternum too; she'd taken a couple of heavy blows there and though nothing was broken, if she was honest, it was more than a little uncomfortable to breathe. But that left her side, her back, her face and her knuckles all throbbing gently to the rhythm of her heart. She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh.

As she began to drift off she heard Alec shift next to her and walk across the room, but her adrenaline was draining away and she was too exhausted to open her eyes to see what he was doing.

She moaned lazily as her boots were removed. She hauled her eyes open and watched as Alec transferred frozen peas into dish towels and placed them at strategic points over the worst of her bruises. He lifted her slightly to slide her ice pack under her back and then knelt at her side holding his ice pack to her cheek.

"How d'you know where I got hit?"

Alec didn't dignify that with a response.

"What about your chest?" She raised a hand to the pack he was holding to her face.

"Shhh. You were almost sleeping," he whispered.

"Alec?"

"I'm ok. I got the good painkillers when Callie looked at my hand," he pointed out. "Here, take these," he handed her some ibuprofen held awkwardly in his injured hand. "They'll take down the swelling." She swallowed them with a little water.

"You should've let them check you out too. How's your shoulder? Must've wrenched it when I grabbed you."

"I'm fine."

"That's my line," he smiled, "And you never believe me."

She rolled her eyes, "I'm really fine."

She was awake now and didn't seem inclined to drop off again. She was a bit more comfortable now she had some ice on her bruises. This seemed like the time to mention it.

"Maxie. Are you ok about today? About 972?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

He raised an eyebrow, "Again with my line."

She smiled briefly, then let her expression become serious. "I had to do it."

Alec shook his head, "No, it was a choice. And you have to live with it now. I know how it's weighed on you in the past."

"You think I could have lived with the alternative? It wasn't a choice. Between you and him? There was no decision and I'll live with it just fine."

"I'm just saying you've never been ok with this stuff."

"Nor have you. Nor has any one of us, not deep down. God, Alec there's so much guilt flooding this place I'm amazed we all stay afloat. But all the things I've had to do to get by, to protect myself or my family? This one I'll sleep easy with."

Alec looked unconvinced, "Really Alec. I'm ok."

"I wish you hadn't had to do that for me."

"I wish I could have killed that bastard months ago, before he tortured you," she returned, her voice suddenly hard.

"Maxie," he began, not sure what to say to her vehemence.

"I'm not a pacifist, you know. And I'm not a delicate flower. I don't want to kill if I can avoid it, but I swear to you I don't regret what I did today."

"I know you're not delicate, Max. You're the strongest person I know. Just... It's only just happened and we're still dealing with the adrenaline. I want you to know I'm here if you start to feel it, ok?"

"Ok," she nodded, placated.

"You'll talk to me if you need to?"

"Yeah, I will. On one condition."

"Just one?"

"Just one. You talk to me. I know how much crap you're carrying around and I wanna be here for you too."

Alec bit his lip. He'd walked right into that one.

"I mean it Alec, this goes both ways. You haven't talked about what happened when you were back in Manticore, but that flashback today? You didn't have your devil may care mask on and I saw how much you were hurting. And you're still having the nightmares. You don't want to talk to Callie, that's fine. But I'm your girlfriend, I love you. I'm the one who's supposed to help you with this stuff. I'll wait for you to be ready, but don't think I'm just gonna forget about it. Don't think I can't see it in you."

Max was surprised he'd held her gaze. She'd thought he'd look away, embarrassed at what she'd seen in him and by the depth of her feelings. She was even more surprised by his response.

"I wanna tell you, Max. I've been trying to work up to it. I want you to know everything about me. I'm gonna do it. Give me a little bit longer, ok? I was nearly there, but this thing today, I admit it threw me a little. I just need to get it straight in my head, then I'll tell you."

He pulled on a smile, "You're gonna wish you hadn't asked, 'cos when I say everything, I mean all the boring stuff too. You're gonna know about the time I got acne for a few weeks when I was thirteen. And the cruel and unusual blond dye job they did on me for a mission when I was sixteen. And when I got out of Manticore and ate nothing but ham salad sandwiches and coleslaw for three weeks."

Max smiled back, "See you think that's boring, but it's not. I wanna know all that stuff too. But you know, I don't know why you think you have to have all the bad stuff straight in your head before you can talk to me. Maybe I can help you get it straight. You don't have to always be strong for me. I let myself be vulnerable with you, about Ben. I wish you understood you get to do the same with me."

"That's pretty radical, Maxie," Alec hedged, a half smile nowhere near reaching his eyes.

"I know, isn't it? You know it didn't come easy to me either but I trust you not to let me fall." she smiled and took his wrist in her hand, so that he could take hers in his, just like that moment when he'd grabbed on hard and she'd known she was safe.

"Ok."

"Ok?"

"Yeah. But I warn you, it's a can of worms, or a nest of vipers, or something wriggly and nasty."

"It's your life."

"Yeah. I'm gonna need a drink," he was only half joking, he really wished they had something stronger than coffee.

#

Alec sat on the coffee table facing her, leaning slightly forward, hands by opposite elbows resting on his knees. Not quite arms crossed against his chest, but defensive body language nevertheless. He held eye contact with Max, but there was no inflection in his voice and not one single adjective in his entire narrative. It was a bare recitation of facts, a report to a CO, but Max knew that was the only way he could tell her his story and it made it that much more chilling and that much more heartbreaking. She made herself listen without reaction. She wanted to be holding him, but she had to respect the distance he needed to talk about what he'd been through during those four months at Manticore.

By the time Alec was done, Max was wishing she hadn't shot 972 or handed over Corrigan. She wanted then here so she could hurt them as badly as they'd hurt Alec. When she'd done that she'd kill them. Not with a gun, with her bare hands.

But this wasn't about what she wanted. She'd asked Alec to talk to her and he had and now she had to give him something that would make him glad he'd done it. She wished she knew what that was. She leaned forward enough to be able to lay her hands on his forearms. She kept the contact light, in case he needed to break it.

"You've been living with all that and no support," she said in a low voice.

"You've been here with me."

"You can have more than just me lying next to you when you have a nightmare."

"Just? That wasn't just, Max, that was a lot and it wasn't all you did."

"I hope so, but there's a lot more. You know you have nothing to prove. You survived that place and you haven't spent one single day wallowing in what happened there. You broke out of that telecoercion today. You are so brave and that won't change if you let me see how much you're feeling it."

"Max, most of us went through Psy-Ops at least once. It's not that big a deal." He sat up straighter so that her hands slid from his arms. He was starting to look spooked but she couldn't back down.

"Yeah, we did. But that wasn't ordinary Psy-Ops. And we don't know anyone who resisted like you did. Who gave them nothing. They went harder on you than anyone because of that. It is a big deal."

For a moment his eye contact faltered and his expression turned desolate but then he forced himself to look at her again.

"I'm sorry I'm pulling away. I know I said I'd talk to you. It's just harder than I thought." There was so much emotion in his voice suddenly that Max was close to tears.

Max took his uninjured hand in hers and slid forward on the sofa so their knees touched, "It's really hard. I know that. But don't say sorry, don't be sorry. I don't want you to do this for me. I'm here with you."

He nodded shakily, "Manticore played the screams so loud and so long that after a while they were inside my head. I recognise each voice. That's what's in the nightmares and that flashback today. I'm killing them over and over again, I'm covered in their blood and I can't hear anything but their screams. And I feel what Manticore did to me, all the pain, and I know I deserve it. I'm trapped in my head with every person I ever hurt and they all wanna see me bleed. If I could bring them back and let them see it for real, I would but I can never tell them I'm sorry, and I can never make it right."

Alec blinked, and a tear escaped onto his cheek. Max reached out to catch it and wipe it away with a gentle fingertip. At her touch he closed his eyes releasing more tears and his face crumpled in anguish for a moment before he brought it back under control.

"I wish I could just say it and make you believe it wasn't your fault; that all this is Manticore blaming you for what they did, leaving you with the memories and the guilt, but I know it doesn't work like that. I know because of how I feel about Ben and about the man I killed with my unit. We carry it all with us." Max had to use all her self control to keep from crying for him. She didn't want him putting away his feelings for her.

"When I was 494 I wasn't a person. I was just a weapon, like you said. How come I can't be Alec and feel like that?"

"You remember when you told me they had ways of making you not care? Your voice, the expression on your face. You didn't believe it. You were never 494, not really. Sometimes I let them call me 452, I call myself 452 and it's like I access a different part of myself. Harder, more ruthless. Sometimes it helps me get through whatever it is, but I don't wanna be her. I wanna be Max. I wanna be your Maxie."

"It was easier to pretend when I was 494. I hate him, but in some ways it was easier."

"I know."

"That thing with Winstone, when I was back in Manticore..."

"You saved his life, his wife, his kids."

"I killed four people with my bare hands. I snapped their necks. They were just ordinaries."

"You hear them scream?"

He nodded. "Alec, Charlie told me what happened. They were murderers. They chose that life. You think they cared enough to hear their victims' screams echo afterwards? They were ordinary but they were not innocent."

"They didn't stand a chance."

"The agents were down. Biggs was unconscious. You were wounded. You had to protect the family. You think anyone in your position would have made a different call?"

"I was the one there. I made the decision. I killed them. Lydecker showed me their files afterwards. They had families too."

Another thing to hate Lydecker for. How the hell could he show Alec their families? "Then they should have thought about an alternative career."

"I know, Max. I know I had to do it. I mean, they aren't even the worst ones. I just wish I didn't have to keep seeing them. I wish I couldn't hear them." He sniffed and released her hand so he could rub his face, "I'm sorry. I should be able to let it go."

"Please stop saying sorry. In fact, you know what? You're not allowed to say it anymore. That's an order. And another thing. There's no should. This is what Manticore does, right? Keeps looking for ways to own us, or to break us. They were so pissed you wouldn't break, they did this to you."

"I'm not sure they've stopped trying."

"What d'you mean?"

"It's the gift that keeps on giving. What if one day I can't take it anymore?"

"You worry about that?"

"The noise doesn't always stop when I wake up."

"Is it getting worse? You hear it now?"

"If I let myself think about it, or something reminds me, I hear them. I want to get past this. I want to be your Alec. I don't wanna be the broken, dirty leftovers of 494." He took her hand again and squeezed like this time she could keep him from falling.

"I don't know how to do it."

Max bit her lip. This wasn't just the typical guilt they all felt about their actions in the past, this was the direct result of the torture Alec had endured. And if he was talking about maybe one day not being able to take it anymore, maybe he'd already thought about finding a way out. Maybe he'd taken those bullets for her partly so he wouldn't have to live with the noise in his head anymore. Maybe in that moment part of him had wanted to die.

She had a sudden, horrifying flash of coming home one day to find him lying in a pool of his own blood. And she couldn't blame him. How long would she be able to stand hearing 'I love you', or 'It's not your fault', or even 'Pass the salt' over the agonised screams of the people she'd killed? She could offer love and acceptance and compassion, but she was way out of her depth.

"You're wishing you hadn't asked, huh?" He whispered, releasing his grip on her hand.

"No." She grabbed on tighter, "I'm wishing I'd pushed you sooner. I didn't know what you were going through, and I'm so sorry. I'm here whenever you wanna talk, but I think you need more than that."

"What, a shrink? You think I'm crazy?"

"You're not crazy. We got you fixed up physically, but we just left you with the rest of it. The worst of it. I mean, the beatings, the starvation, they weren't the point. This was. This is the damage they did."

"The triggers are gone."

"Yeah, but you did that for us and we did half a job taking care of you. I did half a job."

"Sometimes I feel like I'm broken and you loving me is all that's holding the pieces together, but that's not fair. I need to do this myself. It's not your job to fix me."

Her heart constricted in her chest and she couldn't decide if it was filled or broken by what he'd said. "No, but it's my job to know when you need help. This won't happen again."

Alec smiled at the force in her tone, "So what are you gonna do?"

"Well I'm not gonna wait for it to just go away by itself. Alec, you remember that day when you couldn't eat?"

"Max, this is humiliating enough. We really need to talk about that?"

"No, we don't. God, how can you think any of this is humiliating? How strong you've been to get this far? I can't even imagine...I just...Cam said some stuff that day that sounded like he thought you might have PTSD. Maybe he was right. Maybe this can be treated, just like they treated your broken bones, your cuts and burns, your dehydration. I know you didn't want to talk to Callie, but maybe they can help? They might know something, or they could look into it."

"I don't know."

"You don't have to decide now, and I'll back you up, whatever you want to do." She slid off the sofa onto her knees and put her arms around him, thankful when he returned the embrace, and almost surprised that after everything, he still remembered to be careful not to put pressure on any of her bruises.

#

That night it was Max who woke up in a cold sweat. She slid carefully out from under Alec's arm and tiptoed to the bathroom. She splashed water on her face and then sat on the edge of the bath, breathing deeply and trying to get her shaking hands back under control.

"Hey Maxie? You ok?" In her distress she hadn't heard him approach, but she wasn't surprised he'd woken.

"Hey. I'm sorry I woke you."

Alec crouched down in front of her, "What's up?"

"I'm fine."

"You're gonna use that line on me again, after I spilled my guts all over you earlier?"

"Ok, you're right. Honestly? I'm not fine. I'm freaking out. I just didn't want you to feel bad for spilling your guts."

"I gave you a nightmare? I'm s-"

"What did I tell you about saying sorry?"

"That I'm not allowed to."

"That's right. Are you disobeying an order, soldier?"

"Absolutely negative, ma'am."

"That's what I thought." Max paused to collect herself. "I told you I had nightmares when you were in that place."

"Yeah." She could see it was a struggle, but he held back the sorry.

"I kept thinking if I could just get you back here and put my arms around you everything would be ok, you'd be ok. When we found you, I saw how ridiculous that was. But then you started getting better and somehow I forgot how ridiculous it was. You're always so self possessed. You hardly ever show the cracks and I know they're there, everyone has them, but I let myself believe you're 'always all right'. I remember that night when Bullet, Cob and Fritz were killed and you were so upset, but you just pulled yourself together and the next day you acted like you were fine and you spent all your time looking out for me. I knew you weren't fine, but I didn't know how to help, so I pretended to believe you. I'm not gonna do that anymore."

"Max you have so much on your shoulders worrying about keeping everyone safe and together here. I'm not gonna be another burden you carry."

"That's not what this is. We carry each other. I'm not gonna keep on pretending you're ok until the day you step outside for a moment and blow your brains out."

"That's what you dreamed?"

Max nodded and Alec shuddered, "I'm not gonna do that to you, Max. I wouldn't."

"It hasn't crossed your mind?"

"I guess it has, once or twice," he admitted and Max gasped and instinctively put her hands on his shoulders, as though that would be enough to keep him with her. Alec put his hands on her waist, and looked her in the eye. "But just in passing, not seriously. Max, I'm in this with you. I've gotta see how all this turns out. You and me, TC. And what you said about me thinking first before stepping in front of a bullet, I took that to heart."

"Good. But if you feel it's getting too much, you'll tell me right?"

"Yeah. I promise."

He rose and took her hand, leading her back to bed and they snuggled back under the blankets, arms around each other.

Max was starting to drift off when Alec whispered her name.

"Maxie?"

"Yeah?"

"I thought about what you said. I'm gonna go to Medical in the morning. You're right, I'd be dumb not to at least ask if there's something I can do to fix this."

#

"Well, it's not PTSD," Cam declared.

"It's not? How do you know?" As much as he'd been loath to admit there was anything wrong with him he couldn't fix himself, at least post-traumatic stress had the ring of fixability to it.

"Not enough symptoms."

"Horrific nightmares aren't enough for you?"

"'Fraid not. You've had one flashback, caused by a direct attack by a telecoercive. And yeah, horrific nightmares that stick with you into the day sometimes, but you're not hypervigilant. Your appetite's fine. No mood swings, no inability to concentrate, no significant memory loss, no dissociation from emotional responses."

"I wish," he snorted. "So I am just crazy then? Perfect."

"No, you're not crazy. In fact, I'd say you're absurdly well adjusted, considering."

"What then? I just gotta get used to it?"

"God, no! You actually think you could? I think it's conditioning. Should be able to reverse it if we recondition you to dream about something nicer."

"That's it? I've just gotta learn to have nice dreams? You're teasing me, aren't you."

"Nope. We could try and get you an MRI at a hospital outside, but that's kind of risky and it might not tell us anything. We can think about it if this doesn't work. Look, we're not gonna get rid of them entirely, I mean, I don't think there's anyone here that doesn't get nightmares about Manticore from time to time, but if we can take the edge off, at least help you get rid of the ones they put there deliberately. That'd be something, right?"

"I could live without the screaming."

#

Max wanted to be reassured by Cam's diagnosis, but she was as sceptical as Alec had been about the idea of just having nicer dreams.

"How does he plan on making that happen?"

"Sounded like he was thinking along the lines of one of those hypnosis tapes people use to convince themselves they're beautiful and confident instead of ugly and useless."

"Huh. Any evidence of those working? I thought they were snake oil."

"No idea. Cam's gonna talk it over with the others and get back to me."

"Ok. Nice dreams. Nice dreams. How about me in heat standing at the bedroom door wearing a raincoat and stilettos and nothing else."

"Max, Cam's gonna call any minute. That's just cruel. And FYI? Totally not restful."

Max grinned. "It's what I dreamed about after we went back to sleep last night."

"Really? What was I wearing?"

"Nothing."

Alec's pained growl was drowned out by Max's laughter.

#

"We think Callie's your best bet." Cam explained. "It'll be sort of telecoercion, but in a nice way."

"Right. Nice telecoercion. 'Cos that's been a breeze for me so far."

"It'll just be a little light suggestion. Sort of like hypnosis but with a bit more voltage."

"You're not really selling it there, dude."

"You sure you don't wanna give it a try? She says it won't hurt."

"Sure. What've I got to lose from having my brain all swirled up again? When do we start?"

"Callie!" Cam yelled.

"What?" She replied, poking her head round the door.

"You're on."

#

Callie was convinced it wouldn't take too many sessions before he'd see a difference. The severity of the nightmares wasn't caused by natural brain function, so she hoped her intervention would serve to smooth out the disruption, and wouldn't be nearly as violent as what she'd needed to do to dig out the triggers.

"We'll take it easy this first time, see how it goes."

"Am I gonna get paid for being your trial guinea pig this time?"

"Sure. I'll deduct it from your bill when I cure you. Lie down and shut up."

"I think Mole's rubbing off on you. I swear your bedside manner used to be gentler."

"Mole's got a point. No more listening to you hypochondriacs whine on about Manticore's little legacies. From now on I'm just gonna hand you a band aid and go back to my magazines."

"The two of you are all heart."

It was a lot more like his hazy memories of doing what Mia told him than what he'd experienced before and since. Callie told him to relax, so he did. She told him to picture a safe place, so he did. She told him to think about the times he'd been most happy and he found himself smiling lazily as memories of Max kissing him filled his mind.

He opened his eyes to ask what next and couldn't quite put his finger on what was different.

"Hey sleepyhead." He rolled his head to see Max sitting cross legged at the end of the bed. "Sweet dreams?"

"What? I drop off?"

"You slept for four hours. How do you feel."

"Relaxed."

"Any nightmares?"

"No," he shook his head, stretching.

"Did you dream at all?"

"Can't remember. You think I'm cured?"

"Callie said probably not yet, but it worked like she thought. She wants to try again tomorrow."

#

Senator Winstone called that evening to give them an update, and suggest they turned on the news. There was footage all over the networks showing Max and Alec handing Corrigan over to the cops, and the reporters were all over the story of the children who had been found locked in cages. The news reports had confused details of what was happening with Corrigan and his ordinaries, but Winstone explained that this was because the Federal Prosecutor was still adding to a list of charges as long as her arm, charges that included murder, kidnapping, torture and crimes against humanity.

Corrigan had appeared in court that morning for the arraignment looking defiant until he'd heard the list read out, count after count, and he'd looked grey faced as he'd been led out to the truck that would take him to the federal prison where he'd be held until trial.

The news was now showing footage of an angry mob with placards throwing eggs at the prison truck. Robert Corrigan had replaced the transgenics as the new popular face of inhumanity.

"I'm sorry I didn't call earlier," Winstone said. "But I've been fielding calls all day and I flew to DC late this morning. They've called a special joint session on the hill. There's going to be a vote on officially calling off the siege. Max, I don't want to get your hopes up too high, but I'm just going into a meeting. I've got five minutes with the president and I'm lobbying for him to add a vote on the issue of transgenic citizenship."

#

Continues soon...

Ok, so only one more chapter left! If you're reading this, thanks for sticking with me. I swear, I won't leave it so long to post the conclusion.