A/N: I apologize for the horribly long wait. I'm extremely busy with school at the moment, but I will try to update as often as I can.

And for anyone who's interested, it is actually the ending scene in this chapter that inspired the whole story.

You see, I'm the bravest girl
You'll ever come to meet
Yet, I shrink down to nothing
At the thought of someone really seeing me
I think my heart is wrapped around
And tangled up in winding weeds

But, I don't wanna go on living
Being so afraid of showing
Someone else my imperfections
And even though my feet are trembling
Every word I say comes stumbling
I will bare it all
Watch me unfold
Unfold, unfold

Unfold, Marié Digby

The sudden silence in the penthouse was like a thick, smothering blanket. Alec rocked on the balls of his feet, still undecided as to what to do. Logan was quiet in his room, and Ben for once wasn't staring at him unnervingly, looking instead at something outside of the window. He was relieved to no longer be the focus of his attention until he noticed that the look on his clone's face was far too concentrated for just casual spectating. He crossed over to the couch and followed the other man's gaze, searching for what could possibly hold his attention so steadfastly. Finally, he caught sight of what had to be the object of Ben's attention. A young redheaded woman pushing a stroller several stories down had momentarily stopped at a traffic light, and the sun's blinding rays were reflecting off something shiny hanging from around her neck. Alec zoomed in and saw a cross dangling there. He sucked in a breath and switched his gaze from her to Ben, whose eyes had gone dark and – though his leg was broken – seemed about to jump off the couch and race out of there.

"Don't even think about it man," Alec said. Something in Ben's eyes flickered and Alec was rewarded with his partial attention. "You know this thing you have going on is sick, right? That you're killing people because of some 'lady'."

"You don't understand," Ben whispered. "She's the one who's always protected us. She needs to be kept strong."

All of a sudden Alec felt a wave of sympathy for him. He was so mentally screwed up it was almost pitiful. It was eerie looking into Ben's face and seeing his own staring back at him with a hint of craziness in the eyes. After Rachel's death, he had felt on the verge of losing his sanity. It had felt like he had been teetering on the edge of a precipice, ready to fall off with the slightest push from a wind. It had been only the soldier in him that had forced him to move on and not submit to it, and then he had found Max, and things hadn't been as bad. He now knew that if he hadn't been able to keep it together, he would look exactly as Ben did now.

"No, you don't understand," he replied. "You know it's wrong. But if you won't stop hunting people for yourself, or for the families you're destroying, do it for Max."

Ben finally looked him fully in the face. "I am doing this for Max. For all of us."

Alec pushed away the frustration that was quickly mounting inside him. "Let me tell you something about Max. She takes everything personally. You think you're helping her? You're hurting her. You were killing people and she almost had to kill you to get you to stop. Do you have any idea what it's like –" He swallowed, suddenly feeling like his throat was closing up and he could no longer get any words out. "What it's like to have to kill someone you love?"

His words seemed to strike something inside Ben because he appeared to be considering them very seriously.

"Look man, whatever issues you have, just work them out. Without doing the whole…uh… teeth thing. If you like them so much, become a dentist or something, okay?"

Ben's lips quirked to the side in the first mildly humorous expression Alec had seen on him.

"You've really got it bad for her, don't you?"

Alec blinked, not seeing where the comment had come from. The most intelligent answer he could come up with was, "What?"

Ben rolled his eyes, acting as if he was the one who was crazy. "Max. You care a lot about her."

So taken off guard, Alec scrambled for a reply, resulting in him babbling incoherently. For the first time, X5-494 was flustered. "She's my friend," he said lamely.

"Yeah, whatever," Ben dismissed.

Alec glared at him indignantly. Who was he – the insane one – to tell him how he felt? He was perfectly aware of the difference between friendship and something more. And what he felt for Max was definitely friendship.

His mind wandered to the petite brunette, and he found himself thinking about her fiery temper, and how cute she looked when she was irritated. Her bottom lip would jut out in a little pout, and she'd take a stubborn stance, hand resting on the lovely curve of her hip.

Well, mostly friendship anyway. But Ben was completely wrong.

Right?

"Explain to me again how X5-493 slipped from your fingers, when you even had an X5 on your team?"

"X5-734 claims that there was no one in the clearing when she arrived. We must have just missed him by a few minutes." Lydecker cleared his throat. "We have to remember that X5-452 is probably helping her unit mate."

Renfro leaned forward onto her desk. "X5-493 is a serial killer. Do you honestly think that she would risk exposure by helping him?"

"You don't understand these kids."

She regarded him coolly. "So you keep saying. Well then, Deck, why don't you explain them to me?"

"They don't think of each other as just unit mates. They consider themselves family. They'd do anything for each other."

"Well, isn't that sweet. Let me tell you Deck, the Committee is seriously doubting your abilities. You screwed up with Unit 2, you screwed up with 494, you screwed up in Portland, with 493… my, the list goes on doesn't it?"

"493 is an anomaly."

"Oh, is he? And what about 494? Do you think he'll go insane as well? We can add that to your very impressive list of failures."

"I know what I'm doing, Renfro. Now, just let me do things my own way –"

"No, see that's where you're wrong. You're out, Lydecker. Manticore's done with you."

He stared at her in disbelief. "Those are my kids. Manticore is under my –"

"Manticore no longer has anything to do with you."

He gave a bark of laughter. "And now what? I suppose I leave and next week I'll conveniently be in a fatal car accident? I know how it works. I run this place."

"Used to run this place. Since the Committee's in a generous mood, you have until the end of the week to clear out your office. Now get out."

Scowling, he retreated to the door and stalked out.

This isn't over, you prissy little bitch. Not by a long shot.

The mess hall was bright and noisy to the extent that you had to shout to be heard. Brin strode over to the line, got some of what was supposed to pass for food, and stood in the middle of the room, deliberating on where to sit. She scanned the room and finally her eyes landed on a face she recognized. She walked over to the table where the other X5 was sitting alone, and laid her tray down. The other female looked up.

"X5-734," she acknowledged.

"X5-798," she replied. After a moment's hesitation, she added, "Jace."

Jace's eyes flashed. "My designation is X5-798," she hissed. "There is no Jace. Do not call me that."

Brin's eyes dropped to her lap. So this was what had become of the sister they had left behind. A stone cold soldier.

"Sorry," she mumbled, sticking her spoon into the unappetizing mush in her bowl.

Jace ate the last bites of her lunch and stood up quickly. A young X6 racing his unit mate to the lineup accidentally bashed into her, and immediately Jace's hand dropped protectively to her stomach. Brin's mouth fell open slightly, and Jace caught her gaze, a nervous look now on her face.

The X6s mumbled apologies and went on their way.

"Are you… Jace, are you –"

Jace seemed to regain her composure. "I have no idea what you're talking about, 734." She picked up her tray and walked away.

The implications of her actions swirled in Brin's mind, and she couldn't believe it.

Jace was… pregnant?

Alec stepped out from Fogle Towers, hands shoved into his jacket pockets to keep warm. The temperature outside had dropped though the sun still shone brightly in the sky. He walked quickly to ward off the cold, thinking of the possible places Max might go if she was upset. He thought of Crash and immediately dismissed it. She wouldn't want to go to a place where she might run into someone she knew. She'd go to a place that was secluded and that she'd know was empty.

His eyes travelled from where he was standing up and father up until they were looking at the Space Needle. If he concentrated hard on blocking out the sun, he could almost make out a lone figure sitting on the edge.

Shoving his hands deeper into the folds of his jacket, he started walking in the direction.

Ben sat on the couch, his leg propped up uncomfortably on the table before him. He couldn't stop thinking about that redhead that he had seen earlier, the one who had been pushing the stroller. She would have been the perfect sacrifice for the Blue Lady. Small, pretty and a believer. A dark hunger rose like a tidal wave inside him, already imagining what it would be like to hunt such a worthy –

You think you're helping her? You're hurting her.

You're hurting her. You're hurting her. You're hurting her.

The words kept echoing mercilessly in his head. He didn't want to hurt Maxie. He was doing this for her. So that the Blue Lady would look out for her. But was his clone right? Was he just hurting her? He loved Maxie, but he hadn't seen her in ten years, and the man who shared his face seemed to know her pretty well. Maybe they were right. Maybe what he was doing was wrong. But he kept imagining the exhilaration of chasing after prey, of gaining and finally overcoming them, of –

No. He had to push the thoughts out of his mind. On some level he knew that they were so drastically wrong, that he shouldn't be thinking this way.

But it was so hard.

He needed a distraction. Something that would require his absolute attention. Something that would occupy his hands. Something like –

He spotted a knife lying on the kitchen countertop, and then the refrigerator next to it that must be full if it belonged to the rich man who lived here. His stomach grumbled.

Well, it was about lunchtime anyway.

Max sat atop of the Space Needle, eyes closed, arms wrapped tightly around her legs. It had been awhile since she had been up there, and it felt good to feel the wind whip through her hair while looking out at the ruined city. It made her feel… free. For a little while, she completely forgot that Manticore was still hunting her, that she had almost killed her brother. That Logan had betrayed her. It was just her and the sil –

"You come up here often?"

She whirled around, eyes open wide in alarm. "Where's Ben?"

Alec shrugged nonchalantly, making his way to where she was sitting. "At Logan's."

"You left them alone?" Her voice rose to a frantic pitch on the last word, and she was already half-rising from her perch.

"Don't worry. Ben's not going anywhere with that leg and besides – I let Logan borrow my gun just in case. Not that that's actually gonna be effective if Brother Ben wants to take him out, but it seemed to make him feel better."

She stared incredulously at him. "I can't believe you did that!"

"Let him borrow my gun? I know. It was hard to part with my baby but –"

"Left them alone, you idiot!"

"It's not my job to babysit him," he said sharply. "And like I said, he's not in any condition to be running around after people. Crazy or not, he knows that. So chill, Max."

She was rendered silent by the powerful tone of his voice, and remembered that he was a soldier, not only in training but in attitude. It had been so easy to forget that he had only recently left Manticore because during the time he spent with her, he acted more or less like any other guy. She snorted, thinking of his womanizing ways. Yeah, definitely like every other guy.

He sat down beside her, and neither of them said anything for a while. It was Max who broke the silence first.

"Why did you come here?"

"Thought you might need someone to talk to."

The memory of what she had said about Rachel came unbidden to her, and suddenly she couldn't look him in the eye. That comment had been below the belt, and he hadn't deserved it. She let out a breath. She was just a train wreck today, crashing into every single person in her life and making sure that she hurt them to the fullest extent.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. She didn't elaborate and he didn't need her to. He knew what she was referring to. She snuck a peek at him and found that he wasn't looking at her, but out at the city.

I've been saying sorry to him a lot lately. And this was coming from the person who had previously said it maybe twice in her lifetime. She took it as a hint that maybe she should ease up on him a bit.

The stifling silence was back again and she squirmed uncomfortably, searching for something to say. She came up with nothing. She had said what she wanted to, and now it was up to him to continue the conversation. That is – if he ever wanted to speak to her again.

Just as the silence became unbearable, he opened his mouth to speak.

"You don't know what happened, Max. You don't know… how bad it was."

She nodded jerkily in agreement, and thought that was all he was going to say on the subject. Alec had never shared more than the vaguest details about the Berrisford mission, and she had learned by now not to press. But he surprised her when he opened his mouth to go on.

"My target was her father. Robert Berrisford. He was the CEO of Mercidyne and one of Manticore's subcontractors. Manticore wanted him on surveillance because he was asking questions that he shouldn't have been asking. I was supposed to pose as his daughter's piano teacher in order to gain access to their house."

The look on his face was faraway now, as he recounted what had happened.

"Her name was Rachel."

The gentle look on his face as he said her name made Max's heart constrict. He never looked that way at her. Never. But just saying Rachel's name brought out this whole other side of him that was completely foreign to her. She abruptly became aware of her thoughts and their jealous nature, but she was beyond caring. It bothered her that this girl had seen and known a part of him that she hadn't.

"She was beautiful, and smart and sweet. She loved her father more than anything, and I –" His voice faltered. "I loved her."

The words took her breath away. She turned her face in the opposite direction in an attempt to hide the turmoil that was probably evident in her features. She knew that it was silly to both envy and resent a dead girl but try as she might, she couldn't erase what she was feeling. It made even less sense because she and Alec weren't like that.

It was starting to dawn on her that maybe the reason she was so bothered was because she wanted them to be like that. Which was ridiculous, because it was Alec. He drove her up the wall every time he opened his mouth.

But then, why did him talking about Rachel hurt so much?

Alec seemed completely oblivious to what she was feeling. He was still speaking, a wistful expression on his face.

"Manticore never taught us about love, but I don't know how else to describe how I felt about her. She was just perfect. I mean – not in the physical sense, but her imperfections were what made her perfect. And I think… I think she loved me back."

She now wished she had never pressed for more information about Rachel. Each word felt like a knife to the gut, cutting her over and over again.

Alec's jaw clenched as he stopped talking. She could see how hard it was for him to tell her all of this. Transgenics were never good with talking about their feelings. Then again, she never imagined how hard it was to listen.

"I remember the day she died. Manticore decided that Berrisford knew too much, or at least suspected it, and they ordered me to take them both out. I planted the bomb under the car… but I couldn't do it." His voice broke, and he inhaled sharply, seeming like he was trying to ward off tears. "I couldn't do it, Max. She was an innocent. She didn't deserve to die. So I tried to warn her. Told her not to get in the car. But she wouldn't listen unless I gave her a reason, so I told her the truth."

Max looked at him in surprise. The most important thing on missions was to not blow your cover. Do your job and get out. He must have deeply cared about her if he had risked everything to save her.

His facial expression changed slightly, becoming a little bit darker. "I told her who I was, why I was there. And the look she gave me… she hated me. She was completely disgusted with who – what – I was. What I am. And I think I finally realized something." Pain laced his next words. "She didn't really love me. She loved Simon Lehane. She loved the person I was pretending to be. And even if somehow she could have managed to work past that, to love just me, it wouldn't be real. She could never fully understand what I am."

"Like Logan," she said bitterly. "If he wanted to know about what I did in my past, he could have just asked me. Not gone to my worst enemy."

"And you would have told him?" he asked skeptically. "Let's face it, Max. Neither of us is good with this whole communication thing. And look, the guy's not exactly my favourite person – kinda boring and all that – but I think you should cut him a little slack."

Her eyes got round. "You of all people are defending Logan?"

He held up his hands in defense. "Like I said, ordinaries can't understand us. But you should be thankful that at least he's trying. Most people would probably be running in the opposite direction if they knew what we were, not trying to figure us out."

"I guess." She didn't sound too convinced. She wrapped her arms around her knees again, thinking about all that he had revealed to her. She found herself again at a loss for words. What was she supposed to say? I'm sorry? I wish she hadn't died? It was horribly cruel and selfish of her, but if Rachel had lived, then Alec would probably never have run away and she would have never met him. Just trying to imagine what her life was like before they had met was like grasping at a dream that was impossible to reach. He had integrated himself so fully in her life, that the idea of going to work or Crash and not seeing him there seemed strange.

She stared at his profile, having the impulse to reach out and smooth away the lines of pain that still resided there. So much pain from having killed the one he loved. Would she have felt like that if she had ended up killing Ben?

"Why Max, I think that's the most concentrated look I've ever seen on your face. Don't hurt yourself with all those heavy thoughts." The tease wasn't delivered with his usual sharp wit, which only served to stress how much the conversation had affected him. "What are you thinking about?"

"None of your business," she said automatically. She chastised herself for acting like a bitch again, and quickly amended her answer. "It's nothing."

He moved over a little closer to her and let his legs dangle over the edge of the Space Needle. "Come on, Max. Looks like today's all about sharing."

She averted her eyes and stayed silent.

"Max," he encouraged.

Her resolve broke and she found herself whispering the words, as if the soft tone could make the meaning behind them less harsh. "I – I wanted to do it."

"Do what?"

"Kill him." Now that it was out in the open, she wished she could snatch the words back. "I mean… I didn't want to, but between that and going back… I panicked. God, my own brother, Alec. I was so fucking afraid of going back that I almost killed my brother because of it."

He shrugged. "Basic instinct to look out for number one."

"Not in our family," she disagreed. "Back at Manticore, we were always looking out for each other, Zack the most. He'd take the fall for us when we got in trouble. Eva would always hold back in sparring sessions with Jack. And Ben…" She smiled. "Ben would always tell us the most fantastic stories about the world outside."

"Sounds nice."

"It was. Manticore was still hell, but at least we were together. And I –"

"Don't," he interrupted. "Quit blaming yourself. Ben's fine. You've got to stop taking everything on yourself."

"But –"

"Just stop it." He laughed harshly. "Look at us. We are two severely screwed up people. Well, technically I guess we're things, or animals maybe…"

"No. We're people. That was the whole point of getting away from Manticore. So that we could mean more than just a number."

"Right." He paused, and finally the Alec she knew reappeared. "You do realize I'm charging you for all this therapy?"

She unconsciously leaned towards him and tilted her head to the side. "In money, or something else?"

The words had come out of her mouth before she knew what she was even saying, and she jumped to her feet in horror. He had just spent the whole time talking about how much pain he had gone through after losing Rachel, and here she was saying things like that. Stupid, stupid Max.

"I've gotta blaze." She was already several feet away before he had the chance to open his mouth. "I… uh, better go check on Ben."

And then she was gone, leaving a bewildered Alec staring after her.

From the roof of a dilapidated building across from the Space Needle, a figure watched the scene that unfolded with focused, serious eyes. Then as silently as a ghost, they turned and walked away.

A/N: I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter, but after a lot of editing, I still couldn't get it right, and I figured I may as well post it and see what you make of it. I hope Max and Alec's characterizations weren't too messed up. I tried to keep them in character during their discussion, but at the same time I wanted to show their vulnerability. Not completely sure if that came across. Anyways, drop me a line and let me know what you think! :)