"Alec, just relax…" Ben said.

"Everyone is staring at us," Alec hissed. "Why is everyone staring at us?"

"Because we're in a small town and no one knows us," Ben said.

"I feel weird walking around like this…" Alec muttered.

"You ok? I tried to go slow down that stupid road, but I know it sucks," Ben said. "But Caleb said to come see him, and I really think you should get checked up one more time."

He rolled his eyes even though he felt like shit. Ben had gone to the clinic on Monday by himself since he had been too tired to even get up. This was the first time he'd been out of the cabin since he'd had a seizure and been stuck at Caleb's houseboat for five days. The ride in the truck down the mountain road still hurt him, but Ben insisted that he needed to be checked on again and they needed supplies. They were walking around this stupid small town and everyone was looking at them.

"Why couldn't we just go to Caleb's place?" Alec whispered. "I don't like all these people looking at us."

"Would you really stay at Caleb's without me?" Ben challenged.

"No…"

"That's why you have to walk around town with me," Ben said.

"This is still stupid," Alec grumbled.

"It won't take very long to get the supplies, and then we'll head over to Caleb's," Ben said.

He trailed behind Ben and glared at anyone who stared at them for too long. He felt too exposed here. He wasn't undercover, he didn't have any orders, he didn't know what he was supposed to do here. He had to rely on Ben to get them food and whatever else they needed to survive. So far, he'd decided he liked having a brother, he liked their cabin, he liked Caleb, but he didn't like not knowing what to do.

"C'mon, let's get over to Caleb's place," Ben said after they finally checked out. He was so ready for a nap, but he needed to humor Ben to make sure he wasn't going to go try to sacrifice someone. Ben was already doing better, but he didn't want to mess that up. "He told me that he'd make us dinner and you could sleep on the sofa for tonight. I figured the ride down would wear you out, so I told him that we'd stay."

He rolled his eyes again but decided not to argue with his brother. He was actually relieved that he wasn't going to have to get back in the truck and somehow survive the ride back.

"Hey boys," Caleb said with a warm smile when they made it over to his houseboat. "Come on in. I made some soup and cornbread for dinner. Alec, you just take a load off, I'll bring you a bowl of soup after I check your bullet wound."

"We were just here," Alec grumbled. "And you said I was healing just fine, so I don't know why I need a check-up…"

"You need a check-up because you're injured, and I need to make sure you're still healing," Caleb easily replied. "And you missed working at the clinic, so that means you're still hurting. C'mon, sit down. The sooner you cooperate, the sooner this will be over."

He slowly sat down, careful to keep the grimace from his face since Ben was watching his every move and would freak out if he let him know that he hurt worse now because of their trip down here. He went ahead and lay back against the cushions and let Caleb check his side.

"Alec was freaking out because everyone was looking at us," Ben said as Caleb carefully pulled the gauze from his side.

He glared at his brother, but Caleb chuckled and nodded, "You boys are the talk of the town."

"What? Why?" Alec asked, trying to sit up, but Caleb pushed on his shoulder to keep him down.

"Because you're new," Caleb said. "A town this size knows everyone, so you two just showing up out of nowhere throws up a lot of questions."

"Like what?" Ben asked curiously.

"Where you two are from, who you are, what brought you to town," Caleb said. "And I've had more than one question if you two have girlfriends yet." He scowled and looked at his brother, who just shrugged back. "Don't worry, everyone will settle down in a few months," Caleb said.

"Months?" Alec asked.

Caleb laughed, "Alec, it's been a long time since anything's happened around here, so unless someone else shows up out of nowhere, then you two will be the talk for a while."

"Great…" Alec muttered.

"It's not a big deal," Ben said.

"Says you," Alec said.

"Looks like you are starting to get better," Caleb said before Ben could say anything. "But a good night's sleep and some soup will help."

"Your stupid sofa is better than that mountain road, so I'm not even gonna argue about staying here," Alec said. He saw Caleb and Ben both smile, but he just snuggled down on the sofa and decided he'd eat the soup later because right now he could use a nap.

"Oh my God…Alec…" Max breathed. She blurred forward and caught him before he could hit the floor, but he was just a dead weight in her arms. The guards left before she could ask them for anything, locking them back in their cell. She carefully lowered him to the ground, deciding that she should check him over before she got him back on the cot.

"Alec, can you hear me?" Max asked, gently tapping his cheek. The only response she got was the sound of his labored breathing, and it broke her heart to hear him in so much pain. They didn't always get along great, in fact they hardly ever got along, but he was all she had in this place and she hated that they kept taking him out of here and hurting him more. And she wanted Zack and Ben to hurry up and get them out of here. She didn't know how much more Alec could take, and she really didn't want him to die. They'd been locked together for at least a month, they were friends now and she knew she wouldn't be able to handle it if he died.

Alec annoyed the crap out of her when he was awake, but the world would be a little darker if he didn't make it. He always managed to make her smile, and she'd even seen some of the guards laughing with him when he was conscious enough to make jokes with them. She knew he hated this place, but he made it just a little brighter when he was able to.

Alec whimpered suddenly, and tears leaked from the corners of his eyes and fell back into his hair. "Alec, I'm right here," Max tried to soothe. She gently brushed his tears away with her thumbs and cupped his cold cheeks to try to get him to focus. "I still have some bandages stashed and some food and water…just tell me what you need, and I'll try, ok? I'll try to help however I can."

"Just…just don't g-go anywhere…" Alec breathed.

"I'm not going anywhere," Max reassured softly. "Do you want me to move you to the cot?"

"No…here's g-good…" Alec whispered.

She carefully lifted his head slightly and slid her leg under, so he could use her as a pillow. She very gently ran her fingers through his hair and asked, "Is anything broken? Anything bleeding?"

"I-I don't know…" Alec replied miserably. "Everything h-hurts…"

"Ok, just rest," Max soothed.

Alec chuckled, but immediately winced in pain, but still asked, "You m-mean…no 20 questions this t-time?"

"Do you want to go through 20 questions or do you want to sleep?" Max teased.

"T-too many m-memories…" Alec mumbled.

"Ok, so, what do you want to talk about?" Max asked, surprised that Alec actually wanted to talk.

"D-don't you have a list of questions already r-ready for me?" Alec asked tiredly.

"Fine. What was your favorite part about being out?" Max asked.

"Max…" Alec groaned.

"Hey, you wanted me to ask a question, so I did," Max said.

"I th-thought it was g-going to be about escaping again…n-not something p-personal," Alec mumbled.

"You gonna answer it or not?" Max challenged.

"The p-porch of the cabin," Alec finally said. "We got a couple r-rocking chairs, y'know like old p-people or whatever, and we'd just sit out th-there for hours. The air was so f-fresh and the woods…it was like M-manticore never existed up there…and there was this s-stream that you could b-barely see through the trees, but when the sun h-hit it just right…it just sp-sparkled. It sounds stupid, but it was special up there. I sp-spent hours sitting on that p-porch…"

"I used to sit on top of the Space Needle," Max said, focusing on the feeling of Alec's soft hair against her fingers. "I could see everything up there, and at night…the city was beautiful. I could almost forget about the Pulse and how everything was destroyed, and I forgot about Manticore when I was up there."

Alec tipped his head back and looked up at her with his bright green eyes, which were just a little dulled from pain and were still bloodshot, and said, "I'll show you my p-porch if you'll sh-show me your Space N-needle when we g-get out of here."

"That sounds vaguely dirty, but deal," Max said with a laugh.

Alec settled on her leg again and closed his eyes. "I like you M-max," Alec whispered. "I'm glad they threw us in h-here together…"

"I like you too, Alec," Max said, and it was true. They really were friends now, even if they didn't always get along. "I wish they'd stop torturing you…"

"Mmmm…m-me too," Alec hummed.

Alec's breathing slowed, and it still sounded painful, but he looked a little more peaceful. She played with his hair and watched his chest rise and fall. She hated that there was nothing she could do to really help him, and she couldn't stop them from torturing him either. She tucked her hair behind her ear, and then leaned forward and barely brushed her lips against his forehead.

"Don't go anywhere," she whispered. She didn't want to lose him, she couldn't. He was her only friend here, and she knew him now. He had to stay alive; he couldn't leave her alone in this place.

"'M not g-goin' anywhere, M-maxie…" Alec slurred. "W-wake me up when th-they c-come back, ok?"

"You know I will," Max said with a small smile.

He took long, depressing walks every day now since they weren't any closer to getting his brother back. He only wanted to get Alec back, but Zack was shooting down all of his ideas. He knew he was probably going to die trying to get Alec out of Manticore, but he didn't care. Alec was trapped there, and he had to at least try to get him back out.

"Thought I'd find you out here," Zack said. "Especially since it's raining…"

"I don't want to talk," Ben muttered. "Unless it's about getting Alec back out of Manticore."

"We're moving closer," Zack said. He looked up in surprise since this actually sounded like they were going to do something. "We need to see the patrols and the security before we do anything."

"But we are doing something," Ben stated.

"Yeah…" Zack replied.

He didn't like the look on Zack's face, so he asked, "Why now?"

"It's been over a month, Ben, if he hasn't been brainwashed then he's in bad shape…I don't know if he's even still alive…" Zack said. "If we don't do something now, then there will be no reason to go at all."

"You think he's dead?" Ben asked, feeling like he couldn't breathe.

"No…not yet," Zack said. "But I still think this is a suicide mission."

"I want him out of there," Ben stated. "I don't care that it's just you, me, and Logan. We have to get him out even if we die trying. He went back there because we wanted Max out, the least we could do is try to get him back out."

"I promise we're gonna try," Zack said. "We're gonna pack up everything in Logan's car, and then we'll find a good place to stake out."

"I just want my little brother back," Ben said.

"I want him back too," Zack said.

"This is w-weird…" Alec muttered. "It's been four d-days and no torture…"

"Alec, I doubt they want to kill you," Max said, "They know transgenics can only take so much before they can't take anymore. You're too expensive to just kill off."

"You th-think I'm valuable," Alec teased with a small smirk. Max rolled her eyes at him, so he turned it up a little more and said, "Admit it M-maxie, I mean s-something to you."

Max really looked at him for a minute before she said seriously, "You do mean something to me, Alec." His breath caught in his chest; he hadn't expected Max to give him a real answer, and he definitely hadn't expected that answer to be what she'd said. He meant something to Ben and Zack, he knew that, but he kind of thought that was a fluke. He didn't really think he'd ever mean anything to anyone else. Max frowned and asked, "Did you really think you didn't mean something to me?"

"I, uh…I…"

"Alec, you're able to make me smile in a place I've rarely smiled before," Max said. "And you didn't just make me smile once…you make me smile every day even though you're in an incredible amount of pain. You mean a lot to me."

He swallowed hard and quickly changed the subject, "But, um, four d-days with no torture is still p-pretty weird, right?"

Max gave him a small smile, and then slowly stood up from where she'd been sitting on the floor and sat next to him on the cot instead. "Like I said, they don't want to kill you," Max said. "You needed a break and they gave you one."

"Yeah…too b-bad it won't last," Alec said.

"Did you think it was going to take this long for them to come back?" Max asked.

"No…" Alec muttered. "No, I thought they'd b-be here by now…"

"Well, they need to come up with a good plan that will get both of us out with as few injuries as possible," Max said. "And they'll have to assume we're hurt, so they'll need to come up with plan A-Z to cover every scenario they can think of, so that'll take some time."

"And Zack n-never does anything unless he has everything f-figured out," Alec said.

"They're going to come back for us," Max said. "They're not going to leave us here."

"Yeah…but if I'd listened t-to you, maybe we'd already b-be out by now," Alec mumbled.

"Or we'd both be dead," Max said. "Or only one of us would be out and they other would wish they were dead…"

"I wonder if we're g-gonna move to Seattle once we g-get out…" Alec said. "I can't see B-ben wanting to move back to the cabin n-now that he knows you're around…"

"I'd like it if you'd move to Seattle," Max said.

"And if Zack sticks around, then you g-guys would p-practically have a unit again," Alec said. He felt a small pang of regret that he wasn't part of their little family. He and Ben were brothers, but he wasn't part of Ben's other family. He'd be on the outskirts again, but at least he'd be out of Manticore.

"Alec, you're part of our unit now too," Max said, grabbing his hand.

"Y'know, I d-don't wanna make things m-more complicated or whatever, b-but there are a lot of other transgenics in here that m-might want out too…" Alec said. "When you g-guys left…it got a lot worse for the twins. I g-got tortured just because I shared DNA with Ben."

"Alec, I-"

"Me and B-ben talked about it," Alec cut off. "We're g-good, I understand, but I d-don't want to do that if we actually d-do manage to escape…"

"You want to let everyone out?" Max asked, looking slightly awed.

"This p-place sucks," Alec said. "I know it, you know, and I know a l-lot of other transgenics who think so too. And I can't leave th-them in here while we get to be f-free…"

He grunted in pain when Max suddenly slammed into him, throwing her arms around his neck, hugging him close. He relaxed after a second and leaned into her embrace, drawing comfort from the contact. Every time Max touched him, it made him feel just a tiny bit better. She didn't touch him a lot, but when she did, he could almost forget about the pain.

"That's incredible," Max whispered. "What-"

She stopped when the door suddenly opened and two guards came in and an older woman who he thought was the director, but he didn't know for sure. Max stiffened against him and dropped her hand into his, giving him a good squeeze before she turned slightly in his arms.

"452…looks like you and 494 are getting along nicely," the woman said.

"What do you want?" Max snapped.

"Grab him," the woman ordered.

Max held onto him tighter, but he whispered so only she could hear, "Max you g-gotta let me go…I'll be alright…"

She let him go just as the guards grabbed him and threw him to the ground. He wanted to fight back, but four days without being tortured wasn't enough to get him to even start healing. He nearly passed out when he hit the ground, but then he was being hauled to his feet again and slammed against the wall. He tried to gasp in a breath, but his lungs weren't working.

One of the guards put their forearm against his throat and pressed to cut off his airway completely. He struggled to break free, but the other guard punched his already broken ribs, making tears stream down his cheeks.

"Stop!" he heard Max yell. She sounded like she was really far away even though he knew she was just a few feet away from him. "Stop it! You're killing him!"

"It's up to you to stop this, 452," the woman said.

"My name is Max," Max growled.

"Shoot him or stab him, I don't care which," the woman ordered.

His vision blacked out as a searing pain tore through his side. He figured it wasn't a gunshot since he didn't hear anything, but he couldn't be sure since he was kind of out of it right now.

"Let him breathe," the woman said.

He coughed and gasped when he was suddenly released, and then collapsed and threw up, still trying to force air into his lungs. He heard someone struggling, but he couldn't get enough air yet to focus on what was going on around him.

"You can end this, 452," the woman said. "Say it or he's either going to have a collapsed lung or a bullet to the kneecap…up to you."

He forced his eyes open and found Max across the room. Tears were streaming down her cheeks too, and she looked at him with panic.

"Alright, kneecap him," the woman said impatiently.

Max immediately sprang into action, but one of the guards was ready for her and worked at keeping her back. The other guard walked over to him and crouched down beside him. He recognized the guard, and the man looked at him with guilt in his eyes. He joked around with this guy when he could, and the guard always gave them extra food and water when he could.

The guard pressed his gun against his knee and slowly squeezed the trigger. He clenched his jaw, trying to prepare himself for the pain, but he knew he wouldn't be ready for this.

"My name's 452!" Max yelled, making the guard jump as he pulled the trigger. The bullet that would make it nearly impossible for him to walk normally again went in above his knee, through skin and muscle instead of bone. It still hurt like Hell, but it wouldn't ruin everything. Max managed to push her guard off of her, and quickly ran over to him. She looked at him with relief when she saw that he wasn't permanently handicapped.

They both turned their attention to the woman who slowly started to clap and was looking at both of them with smug satisfaction. "Very good 452," she said. "Maybe next time you'll cooperate before he starts bleeding…"

The woman nodded to the two guards, and the three of them left.

"Alec, I'm so sorry," Max whispered.

"Help m-me up…" Alec breathed. His voice was rough and he could barely get a good breath, but it could've been worse. "I'm t-too close to m-my own vomit…"

Max quickly got him to his feet, ignoring his groan of pain, and brought him back over to the cot. "Bullet went straight through, so, um, that's good," Max said, refusing to meet his gaze. "But we don't have any way to do stitches, so that's going to be a problem…"

"M-max…I'm alright…" Alec whispered.

"I should've said it sooner," Max said. "I just…"

"I g-get it," Alec said. "You have a n-name…you're not a n-number…"

"But I know that, and I could've saved you some pain instead of refusing to just say it," Max said.

"Max…"

"I'm just going to try to stop the bleeding," Max said, ignoring him.

"M-max, this is b-bad," Alec said, trying to get Max to look at him.

"No, I'm going to stop the bleeding, and then we'll figure something else out," Max said.

"Max…I know why they p-put us together," Alec said.

"Why?" Max asked.

"We care about each other…" Alec said. "And n-now they can use us against each other…"

Max looked up at him again, and he knew he was right. "So…what do we do now?" Max asked softly.

"We b-better just hope Ben and Zack g-get here soon…" Alec said.

"Here, Caleb sent these with me," Ben said, passing an ice pack over to his idiotic brother before he handed him painkillers. Alec was sitting in his chair on the porch, refusing to look at him since he was mad at him. He sat down in his chair and handed Alec the glass of water once he reached for it. "I told you starting fights was a bad idea, and Caleb told you the same thing."

"You were fighting too," Alec grumbled.

"I was fighting because someone had to have your back," Ben said. "You can't fight someone just because you don't like what they say."

"Y'know, there were a lot of rules at Manticore, but at least they made sense," Alec muttered. "And no one could say asshole remarks at Manticore because we weren't allowed to talk."

He chuckled even though he'd freaked out when he saw Alec punch the guy across the face at the bar. "I don't think you should punch every asshole you run into," Ben said. "Especially since they seem to have a lot of friends that think it's fun to gang up on you."

"I could've taken them all out if you hadn't knocked me out," Alec said.

"I knocked you out since it would be bad if you killed them," Ben said. "We'd have to move from our cabin, and you convinced me killing is bad."

"Sacrificing is bad," Alec said, pointing at him. "And I wasn't gonna kill them…just break a few bones to teach them a lesson."

"Still not a great idea," Ben said with a smile.

"This freedom thing comes with a lot of rules," Alec grumbled, but he could tell his brother was trying to hide a smile.

"I'm sorry for knocking you out," Ben said.

"Just don't do it again," Alec said. "The first one can look like an accident, but if it happens again we're gonna look like we have no idea what we're doing."

"Alright, I won't knock you out again," Ben said. "You want some dinner? Caleb sent us more leftovers."

"I'm not going inside," Alec said. "It's nice out here and you'll have to knock me out again to get me inside and you already said you wouldn't knock me out again."

"I'll bring it out here," Ben said in amusement.

"Even though you knocked me out, you're still an awesome brother," Alec said. He was thankful his brother couldn't see him because he couldn't hide his smile now. "But you should know I have nothing to base your brother status on since I've only just recently gotten a brother," Alec said.

He rolled his eyes, but he messed up Alec's hair on his way inside. Even though he had to watch Alec since he didn't really know how to act outside of Manticore yet, he wouldn't trade his brother for the world.