A/N: Hey everyone! Just to let you know, I've created an Alec standalone that I'm sure you'd like, I'm very proud of it. It's called "What's In A Name". And I just recently put out another MA fic called "Ooh Baby". Anyways, please R&R and give me feedback. Thanks!

Spoilers: Prodigy. Max went to a different conference on genetics where she met Lydecker. The stuff with the terrorist group and the boy never happened. She tried to talk to Tanaka but he was busy, so she went home. I know, lame filler, but you'll understand later.

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The mission won't be boring, guys, I promise. Lots of opportunities for MA stuff. (Hint, hint) LOL

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Oh, and guess what? It's my 13th birthday! Yay! Bring on adolescence!

"Amphibians aren't really my thing, but thanks for the thought," Alec whispered as he passed Max to get to the head of the line for roll call.

"Anytime," Max whispered back, a small grin on her face. Last night had been somewhat of a turning point in their relationship. She wouldn't exactly call them friends, but it was an improvement from before.

"Eyes front!" the trainer shouted, and she stared forward as he took roll call.

"Unit 8, do not proceed to the gym as normal. You are to go to the briefing room," the trainer shouted once he was done roll call. They all saluted and left, whispering to each other.

"Do you think it's a mission?" 222 asked 048 excitedly. "We haven't been on one in awhile. It would be great to get out for a little bit, don't you think?"

048 gave her an amused glance. 222 was always full of energy and hyper, so everyone joked that she had kangaroo DNA in her, as she was always bouncing around.

"I wonder where it's going to be," 323 said, butting into their conversation. "Last mission I had was in Hawaii. God, that was bliss. There were the hottest girls walking around on the beaches there. I swear they could've been X5s."

At his remark Max noticed 025 scowl slightly and she hid a chuckle. It appeared that they weren't as unfeeling towards each other as Manticore would've liked.

"I wonder why 452 is being deployed as well," she caught 925 whispering. "Isn't she considered as a flight risk?"

Max cleared her throat. "I might be an '09er, 925, but my hearing is just as enhanced as yours is."

925 at least had the decency to look a little ashamed at being overheard and said no more.

"Why are they letting me go?" Max asked Mina as they rounded a corner. "Aren't they afraid that I'll try to escape?"

"Maybe they're figuring that you can't jump a couple dozen X5s," Mina answered.

"Or maybe," Alec said, catching up to them, "they figure that you wouldn't want to leave my beautiful self, especially not with your obsession with my ass."

Max rolled her eyes and hit him on the shoulder. "There are finer specimens out there."

Alec widened his eyes in mock outrage. "Than mine? I think not."

"You're such an ass," Max said and Alec grinned.

"Told ya."

Mina watched their argument continue on as they rounded yet another corner and realized it lacked in the usual bite and was more playful than before when they were trying to hurt each other intentionally.

I wonder what happened between them.

She was glad that they would be going on a mission; she needed to get out of Manticore, forget the memories that were held there. She needed something to focus her mind on so that she would not be distracted.

"You're gorgeous, you know that?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry. They can't hurt me. Not while I think about you."

"No! Don't hurt him! Please! Stop hurting him!"

"839?" Max asked with a frown on her face. She had just realized that Mina wasn't walking behind her and Alec anymore, and when she looked back Mina stood as frozen as a statue in the middle of the hall, her eyes completely glazed over until she called her designation.

"You okay 839?" 510 asked, coming up behind her. "What wrong?"

Don't get hurt again. Push him away.

"Nothing," Mina said in a cold tone. She walked into the briefing room without sparing any of them a glance.

What the hell just happened? 510 thought. She been less bitchy to me lately and all of a sudden her voice is colder than Renfro's.

He looked at Max but she just shrugged.

"Don't look at me, I don't know," was all she said before disappearing into the briefing room as well.

"Women," Alec said. "Don't ever try to understand them. It'll give you a headache."

"A group of scientists has recently become curious about how the government diverts its funds. Too curious. They are wondering why so much money is being given to a VA hospital, and are digging deeper to find out. We can't risk this kind of exposure. You will be deployed in the field to go to a genetics conference that they are holding. After the conference there is a party then you will stay over at a hotel for a continuation of the conference the next day. You are to go there undercover as various scientists, reporters, etc, and you will determine how much these people have uncovered. If they know too much, you are to eliminate them. Is that understood?" Renfro said.

Something tugged at Max's stomach when she heard the word eliminate. She wasn't sure if she could do it. Kill a bunch of innocent people.

Renfro looked straight at Max when she said that, almost as if she knew what she was thinking. It was a test, Max knew. Could she do it? Or would she fail?

"Failure is not an option soldiers," Renfro said. "It could cost us everything if they find out about Manticore. We're all counting on you, don't let us down."

She stood silent for a moment, evaluating each of them before she spoke again.

"Your CO will be given the mission specs momentarily," Renfro said. "CO, 494, SIC… 452."

Max's whole body went rigid and she got sticker shock. It took a moment before the words processed in her brain and she understood what was happening. She looked at her unit mates. Alec looked surprised but amused, Mina looked happy, Biggs looked momentarily stunned but indifferent and the rest had astonished looks on their faces. Max felt a small feeling of satisfaction course through her.

"You will be deployed at 0800 tomorrow, so I suggest you all get some rest. All classes are cancelled today except for hand to hand combat, tactics and weapons to prepare you for the mission. We do not expect this to be complicated, but you must be ready for whatever situation that can arise. Understood?"

There was a chorus of "Yes, ma'am."

Renfro nodded. "Any questions?"

Everybody remained silent.

"Very well. You may go to breakfast. Only 494 and 452 shall remain."

Everyone filed out in a march, several casting Max curious looks as they left. Mina gave her a small wink when Renfro wasn't looking and headed out.

As soon as the door was shut, Renfro pulled out a folder and handed it to Alec.

"The mission specs, 494. Go over them thoroughly, I don't want any slip-ups," Renfro said. There seemed to be a hidden message though, as Max saw Alec's eyes flicker for a second before they became blank again.

Did something happen? Did the great 494 screw up a previous mission?

"What will be available to us?" Alec asked.

"Whatever you require 494. Give the weapons trainer a list of what you'll need and he'll get it. Everything will be at your disposal as I want this to go smoothly and without any problems," Renfro said. She looked at the both of them carefully.

"This mission will involve teamwork. All of your soldiers should be able to work flawlessly with anyone, not a selected few. Make sure there are no tensions to screw this up," she said, her words directed to Alec but looking at Max. "You are all the same now, all equal. You may go."

Just as Max turned to leave, she heard Renfro say, "Don't disappoint me 452."

She kept her face neutral and left.

"So, this should be fun," Alec said as they walked down the hall. "Your first mission since you came back to Manticore. Don't screw up."

The last comment stung her. She thought that maybe he wasn't like the others because he wasn't so hostile, but maybe she had misjudged him.

I wish OC was here. She was always a good judge of character.

Alec noticed her silence, saw the pained look on her face and immediately regretted saying it. He didn't know what had compelled him to say it; it just popped out of his mouth. Maybe he had a jealousy issue; Max had only been at Manticore for a few months and she was already SIC? Maybe he felt threatened by her, by her position. For all his life Alec had been the best soldier at Manticore, well, at least after 599 had escaped. He wasn't going to let some '09er take his place.

What the hell am I thinking? I'm still thinking of her as an '09er, not as one of us. I still think of her as a traitor. No, not a traitor. Just as a… threat? Where the hell is this coming from? It's not like I'm actually jealous of her. I'm at the top, she can't beat me. Or at least I won't let her; I can't fail, not again. I can't lose my position. If I screw up I won't be given another chance.

He was thinking as 494, not Alec, because Alec would never have had these thoughts. 494 needed to assess the threat, and eliminate it.

I need to be better than her.

Alec shook his head to clear the disturbing thoughts. He had no idea where the need to be better had come from, but he felt bad for what he had been thinking and even worse for what he had said.

"Max," he said, catching her shoulder. He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean – it just came out."

"No, I understand. I'm an '09er. All we do is screw up right?" Max snapped.

"That's not what I – " Alec started but Max didn't give him a chance to answer. She blurred away.

"I always thought that talking was a sign of intelligence," Alec mumbled. "Now I know it just shows people's massive stupidity."

"What do you want?" Mina asked 510 as he sat down opposite her. Her tone was considerably warmer than before and that reassured him a little that at least he wasn't going to get his head bitten off.

"What happened back there?" he asked her. "You were acting weird."

"What are you, a psychiatrist? I got enough of that from the people at Psy Ops, I don't need you analyzing my behaviour too," Mina said. She froze as she realized her mistake.

"Psy Ops?" 510 asked. "When were you in there? Before you were put in our unit?"

"Get out here for me, okay 839? Promise me that even if I don't make it, you'll still get out of here."

"You have committed treason 839. You will be severely punished."

Mission

Duty

Discipline

"839?" 510 asked.

What the hell is wrong with her? It's like she has a split personality.

Luckily for Mina, Max came storming in, grabbed her tray of food and slammed it down on the table, cutting off their conversation.

"What's eating you?" 510 asked, chuckling slightly at his pun. "Eating you, get it?"

"Hilarious," Max grit out.

510 put his hands to the side in a "What the hell?" gesture. "What is it with all you females lately? The way you're acting, it wouldn't surprise me if you were spawned from Renfro herself."

"You'd have known that, 510, if we had sprouted horns," 104 said, sitting down on Max's other side, surprising her. "This is now a girl's table. Beat it."

510 rolled his eyes and moved to another table, muttering something like, "That time of the month again."

"We don't get that, you moron, we go into heat," 104 shouted at him. She looked at Max and smiled. "The men in our unit are all idiots."

Max watched as more of the females in their unit joined their table, all chatting with each other amiably.

"What, you guys don't think this table is infected with traitor's disease anymore?" Max asked.

"Look. You're part of our unit now so shunning you isn't exactly going to do anything except screw this mission up. Besides, Renfro says you're one of us now. We might as well try to get along," 163 said, taking a bite into her apple.

"As if you could do that," 274 scoffed. "You're the resident bitch."

"Since when was that position taken from me?" Mina asked and Max chuckled.

"Since you two started hanging out," 274 said, indicating her and Max. "Thank you, she was starting to become unbearable."

"Well, watch out. Max may steal your position. She's the supreme queen of bitchiness," Mina said laughing. Max's eyes widened and she shot Mina a glare.

"Who's Max?" 663 asked curiously.

"Oops," Mina said. "Sorry."

"Max is…" Max said hopelessly until she remembered what she had thought before down in the basement.

Why should I hide my name from them? Any of them. It's who I am.

"Max is… my name," she said. "See, when I was growing up, my unit and I figured out that people on the outside didn't have numbers, but names. So… we named ourselves. It made us feel more… human."

She looked around the table, testing their reaction and found most of them nodding their heads so she breathed a sigh of relief she didn't know she had been holding.

"That's insubordination," 753 said and Max looked at her worriedly, wondering if she'd tell. 753 kept a stony face for a minute, and then the Spanish beauty broke out into a smile. "Cool. Let's all have names. We can use them on our mission."

Max watched as all the others nodded eagerly at that idea.

"At least our names would actually fit us," 104 said. "Then we wouldn't have to have stupid ones that we don't like."

"Well, my name is Mina," Mina said. She made a face and grinned. "Because of my reputation for being mean." The others laughed and other transgenics sitting at other tables looked over curiously, so they kept their voices down.

"Hey look! There's 494. We should name him," 222 said as he walked into the mess hall.

Mina noticed as Max visibly tensed and didn't look at him although it was obvious he was trying to get her attention.

"Did something happen?" Mina asked her and Max shook her head signaling, "Not now."

"He already has a name," Max said. "Alec. Give you three guesses to figure out why."

"So what name do you think I should get?" 222 asked in her usual excited manner.

"Calm down girl before you bust something. Damn, I don't know how you've gone so long without burning out," 025 said. Max smiled wistfully; 025 was liked Cindy in so many ways it hurt.

"I vote she gets Bubbles," 729 said, speaking up for the first time.

"I'm not going to be named Bubbles!" 222 said indignantly.

729 threw her hands up. "Just a thought."

"How about Allegra?" 753 said. "It means exuberantly cheerful in Latin. Or Larissa which means cheerful in Greek. Oh! How about Risa? It's part of Larissa and it means laughter." She noticed all the faces staring at her and shrugged. "I always loved languages so I studied them more, especially Latin."

"Yeah, I like Risa," 222 said.

"Risa it is," Max said.

"Did you know that Max means greatest in Latin?" 753 asked and Mina smirked.

"Figures."

"How about me?" 163 said.

"Is there any name in Latin that stands for bitch?" 729 said snickering.

"Well," 753 said thoughtfully. "Delilah means brooding in Hebrew."

"How about Lila?" 163 said.

"Suits you perfectly," the Italian 274 said.

"You should be Samantha," Max spoke up suddenly. "I heard somewhere that it stood for listener in some language. You always listen to people."

"You know what would be funny? If 273 was Sam. That would be so cute. Twins called Sam and Samantha," Mina said.

"Bite me," Samantha said.

On and on it went, most of their names coming from various languages, names that suited their personality or what they liked to do. 729 became Nala because she had remembered the name from the Lion King when she had watched the movie posing as a schoolteacher and liked it, 104 became Prudence or "Prue" because it meant intelligence and she specialized in strategies, 663 became Justine because it meant just, 025 became Darcy because it meant dark and finally the cunning linguist 753 became Paige because she said she wanted to be young forever.

"Well, don't we sound awesome," Nala said. "This'll just be our secret, though."

"A girl's secret," Darcy agreed.

"Though we should name some of the guys later just between us. It'll be fun," Mina said.

Risa looked at her watch. "Guys, we better get going or we'll be late for tactics."

They all disposed of their trays and giggling, walked out of the mess hall, Max momentarily forgetting her anger and hurt towards Alec.

"What do you think they were talking about?" 510 asked Alec. He grinned. "Let me guess what you're gonna say." He cleared his throat. "Me, of course," he said in a perfect imitation of Alec's voice. He frowned when he saw his friend wasn't laughing.

"What's up with you '94?" 048 asked.

"Girl problems," 323 said to the rest of the table. "It's written all over his face."

"So what did you and 452 get up to?"510 asked.

"What makes you think it had anything to do with her?" Alec asked and all the guys at the table laughed.

"Oh, nothing really. You're only carving the number 452 into your napkin with your butter knife," 273 said and Alec looked down, noticing that he had in fact done that. He groaned.

"Women are complicated '94, don't go trying to figure them out," 369 said. He put his hand out and slowly moved it through the air. "You move through the space that is their mind, then…" He dropped his hand like a sack of potatoes. "You fall into the dark abyss. You're better off not trying to understand them, for your own sanity."

"Just out of curiosity, what did you do?" 528 asked.

"Why do you just naturally assume I did something?" Alec asked him wearily.

528 shrugged. "According to women, it's always our fault."

Alec shook his head. "Never mind. I'll fix it on my own."

"You better or else the mission might get screwed up because of personal problems," 329 said. He gave a pat on the back. "Good luck."

They all stood up and left for tactics.

"Thanks for all the encouragement," Alec muttered. "Not."

The rest of the day passed by fairly quickly for Max because of the happiness she felt inside. She felt like she was actually starting to become one of their unit, at least with the girls. Sure, some of them were still a little tense around her, but it seemed like what happened in the past was forgotten. She was no longer an outsider; she was starting to fit in.

Zack, even though I know you probably would have wished that I had already escaped, I know you would be proud of me. I will escape… eventually.

The problem with feeling connections to her newfound friends is that she could no longer leave them. She had already grown too attached to Mina and wouldn't leave without her. Hell, she didn't want to leave any of them. Not Biggs or… Alec.

The hurt that had been washed away earlier came back full force and her face hardened.

How dare he act superior to me?

She would show him. She would work harder, train harder, until she was just as good – no better, than he was. People would no longer see her as an '09er, but as the best.

Unbeknownst to her, that was exactly what 494 was afraid of.

"You're good, 452, but not quite up to par with the rest of your unit mates yet," Trainer Hilt said after she had just finished fighting Paige. "Alright, class is over. Proceed to the mess hall for dinner."

Frustrated at being beat in hand to hand combat again, Max clenched her fists and walked off, trying to cool herself down.

Classes won't be enough. I need to do some extra training to catch up on what I've missed out on.

An idea occurred to her and she sped up to catch up to Risa and Darcy.

"Hey guys," Max said. "Look, can I ask you guys a favour?"

"Shoot," Darcy said.

"You both have shark DNA right?" Max asked.

"Yeah," Risa answered. "We both slept last night so we're good for about another 3 days. Why?"

"I want to catch up on fighting," Max explained. "If you'll help me train at night, I can get better. Those hour and a half classes aren't enough."

"Extra fighting?" Darcy said. "Cool. I'll do it."

"That's because you'll do anything to pick a fight with someone," Risa said laughing. "I'm all for it too, though."

A grin spread over Max's face. "Thanks guys."

Just you watch, Alec. I'll cream your ass in no time.

A/N: So, I hope you liked that. Since it was my birthday, some unseen force possessed me to write on for 14 pages! LOL Please give me some feedback. BTW, for anyone interested, since I don't have a web page because I don't know how to make one, if anyone wants to search for pictures for my characters and post them on your own website, tell me. I'll give you descriptions of my characters and you'll have full credit for it. Anyways, feedback please!

Love my wonderful reviewers –

L80bug – Thanks!

meri24 – Thanks!

Alana84 – Thanks! As my original characters develop, there will be more relationships. The main ones are obviously Max/Alec and Biggs/Mina. And obviously Max couldn't kiss him, that would go totally against her "no thanking anyone" policy. LOL

GiRl MaGe – Thanks!

latinapotterfan – It's awesome to have a new reviewer! Thanks!

Mystic Fayth – Thanks! Love your new penname, it's cool. Can't wait for "Dreaming" to come out!

Aur – Thanks!

Pillow of Doom – Thanks! LOL About your visions concerning Biggs, well… LOL

Iridescent Twilight – Thanks! About the Logan bashing fic, I'll consider writing it. I promise I will eventually do it; it's just that I've gotten way over my head with too many stories. LOL

shygirl1 – Thanks! LOL I bet everyone wishes they were in the lizards' place.

bella1812 – Thanks! Wonderful to have a new reviewer!

Lotamoxie – Thanks! Alec does know about the seizures, but since they all had that procedure done to get rid of them, he doesn't know how to control them. I guess maybe it kinda slipped his mind that Max didn't have the procedure too, so that's why he didn't exactly know what was wrong. Max and Alec's friendship increased in the last chapter, but it bumped back a little in this one. Just trying to get the road kind of rocky. Don't worry, it'll move forward again. But you know how it is with two stubborn transgenics who won't admit they like each other… LOL

mell11 – Thanks!

4eva Jensen – Thanks!

w1cked angel – Thanks! I will bring breeding partners in, but later. And don't worry, it will be interesting. Who knows who'll get who. Dun dun dun… LOL Lots of MA stuff gonna happen during the mission.

calistra – Thanks!

elle6778 – Thanks! Stay tuned for lots of MA stuff happening during the mission. LOL

Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! Please give me feedback. Luv ya'll, aod78