What if it had've been Sam and Dean that found Max, not Hannah? How much would that one little difference have to Max's life? Warnings listed inside. Slightly AU 'The Pulse'

We're going to meet Alec soon, I am very excited about that, not to mention meeting Charlie soon as well. Max is about to turn 18. Team Free Will will be back together in this chapter, not to mention that Kevin is here as well. And it is definitely going to be awesome.

Warnings: Trigger warnings: PTSD, flash backs, abuse, violence, torture. Swearing, loss.

One Little Difference

Chapter 37:

Max's first thought as she appraised Kevin was that he was incredibly adorable. Plus, he was only a year or two older than she was. Max flashed a big smile at Kevin and held her hand out for him to shake. Technically, Max and Kevin had never met before, so Max felt it was important to make a good first impression.

"Hey there! I'm Max." Max said, grinning at Kevin and she shook his hand.

Kevin blushed bright red and returned her firm handshake. "I-I'm Kevin." Kevin stuttered out in reply.

Sam and Dean shared a knowing glance. They may have been Max's father and uncle, but they weren't blind. Max was a beautiful girl.

"I know," Max said with a wink at Kevin, making Kevin blush even harder. She let go of his hand and turned to Mrs Tran.

Max offered the woman her hand. "Hi, you're Mrs Tran, right?" Max asked sweetly.

"Yes, and please call me Linda." Linda replied, shaking Max's hand.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Linda. Why don't I show you and Kevin to your rooms?" Max asked kindly.

"Thank you honey." Linda said, picking up her two suit cases, indicating for Kevin and Max to do the same.

Sam and Dean heard Max talking to the Trans' as they left the room. "We just replaced all the mattresses, so you'll have nice, new comfy beds to sleep on."

Sam chuckled. "Max is going to turn that boy inside and out." Sam said, amusement deep in his voice.

Dean laughed. "Well, I'm sure he can handle it. He's a genius after all." Dean noted.

Kevin smiled at Max. He wasn't sure what he had expected of Max, but the real thing was a pleasant surprise. Max was very nice and made him laugh, which was something not even Channing had been able to do, as lovely as his ex had been.

Linda hadn't been hard to please. She moved in easily, before going to the kitchen and making lunch for everyone.

"Oh, you don't need to thank me," Linda had said. "It's me and Kevin that need to thank you, keeping us safe here."

Max found herself liking Linda straight away, the woman reminding her a lot of Ellen.

After showing Kevin around, Max settled him into the library with the demon tablet. Max pulled out her laptop to surf the internet for a while.

Max had only been on her laptop for a few moments when she felt eyes on her. She looked up to see Kevin staring at her. Max caught his eye and he blushed profusely again.

"Sorry," Kevin mumbled, looking back down at the tablet.

Max smiled. "No problem. What's on your mind?" Max asked. She reached out her mental powers briefly to 'scan' Kevin. All she picked up was Kevin's surface emotions, that being mainly embarrassment.

"Oh, it's nothing really. It's just… you look a lot like a young Jessica Alba." Kevin said, raising one eyebrow.

Kevin's comment startled a laugh out of Max. "No way am I as pretty as she is." Max scoffed.

"No, you are. Maybe even more so." Kevin replied. He chuckled nervously when he realised what he had said.

Max beamed at Kevin, feeling deeply flattered by the Prophet. "Thank you Kevin, that's awfully sweet of you." Max replied. She winked at him. "You're not too bad yourself."

Kevin laughed nervously again. "T-thank you." Kevin replied, blushing. He rose to his feet, almost knocking over the chair he had been sitting on, and stumbled, heading over to the door out of the library, towards his room. "I'm just going to go and, uh, figure out those tablets."

Max flashed him a charming smile. "Okay then, but don't go working too hard. You don't want to tire yourself too much." Max replied kindly.

Kevin nodded and made a quick exit. Max heard chuckling from the other side of the room. Max turned to see Dean walking over to her.

"What?" Max asked, a small smile hovering over her lips.

"Don't think I can't see what's going on here. You're pupils are blown completely wide. You're like a cat playing with an innocent mouse." Dean said, smirking at his daughter.

"No I'm not! I'm just being nice!" Max exclaimed.

Dean's head fell backwards with laughter. "I'm sure you think that, but does he?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow at Max. "I know you're just playing and having a laugh, but don't break his heart, okay?"

Max frowned. "You know I would never do that. I have cat DNA that sometimes alters my behaviour, makes my pupils go wide when I'm in a playful mood, but I would never intentionally hurt anyone who didn't deserve it." Max replied, leaning slightly away from her father.

"I know that Max. It's just…Well, Kevin has lost his girlfriend Channing, and that has got to hurt. I know you only have the best intentions at heart, but don't confuse him." Dean said, resting a hand on Max's shoulder.

Max smiled softly. "Yeah, I know what it is like to lose somebody you love. I'm not going to use him and drop him. I'm not like that." Max said, resting her hand on top of Dean's.

Dean grinned. "I know you're not sweetheart. I just don't want Kevin to get the wrong idea about you either." Dean replied.

They were silent for a few moments, the air a little bit awkward. Dean pulled away and let out a sigh. "Okay, good talk." Dean said, causing Max to chuckle softly.

"Good talk." Max replied in an amused voice.

The ceiling was a cold puce colour. But then again, it had always been that colour. He had thought that after years of being here, he would be used to its plain visage.

The day started as usual, quick shower at 0400, then going out on a run before heading back to barracks and changing out of his PT gear and into a regular uniform, then finally heading down to the mess to get some scran. Next would be weapons training and hand to hand training. Of course, he corrected in his mind, he had to go through the service walkway because the buildings were once again, destroyed by bombs. Sometimes he wished that they would just kill those runaways, those ones the bite the hand that feeds them, then he wouldn't have to compensate for the five minute detour before heading to the gun range. He couldn't stand going on report, especially with the nature he was designed to have. Singular, alone. That was his mission unless it was required to be otherwise.

"X5-494!" The Major shouted. To this day 494 didn't learn the Major's name, not that he cared at all, but it probably would have been a good idea to learn it to stay on the Major's good side. But then again, 494 still didn't care.

As much as he was fine with doing what Manticore wanted him to do (well, less these days), he was getting a bit bored, being stuck here day after day. He wished the top brass would give him a mission, like the rest of his unit. But now, he was here, undergoing testing due to his last mission. He had been compromised. He had let it become personal and now the girl he…well, Rachel was dead. Nothing he could do about that now.

The day passed rather quickly and boringly. 494 hardly had to pay attention to the drills he was being put through. They were so easy and repetitive. He wished he actually had an opponent worth fighting against.

494 was in his cell when a knock came on the door. It opened to reveal a blonde woman. She was basically in charge of this place, but again, 494 didn't actually care enough to learn her name. But he sprung to attention anyway.

"Ma'am." He said, eyes front, like a good little soldier.

"X5-494. I have a special assignment for you." The woman said. 494 immediately did not like the look in the woman's eyes.

"Yes ma'am. What is the mission ma'am?" 494 asked, his tone controlled.

"I have assigned you to the breeding program. There is a girl there who is being a bit hard to control. An X5 of your calibre should be able to control her." The woman stated.

"Breeding program?" 494 shouted in his head. "Great (!) I have to rape an unwilling girl now! Will the fun ever end (?!)"

The woman raised her eyebrows at 494's silence. "Do you have a problem with this?" The woman asked.

"No ma'am. When would you like me to do this, ma'am?" 494 asked, again controlling his tone.

"Now 494, when she's not expecting it." The woman said.

494 nodded, his mind slightly reeling. "Yes ma'am." 494 responded.

Two soldiers led him out of the men's barracks and into the woman's barracks. One of the soldiers stopped him.

"Be care 494. She is one of the X5's that escaped in '09." The soldier said.

494 nodded to the soldiers and then let out a sigh. This was going to be interesting.

494 walked into see a girl his age sitting on the bed. She had big beautiful brown eyes and long straight brown hair that fell to her waist. She had full soft lips and golden brown, sun kissed skin. And God, she smelt amazing!

Her brown eyes met his green ones.

"Ben?" The girl asked in amazement.

494 frowned. "What?" He asked, looking at the girl, puzzled.

The girl sighed and looked away. "You look like someone I used to know." The girl replied.

494 nodded. "Well, my designation's 494."

The girl's eyes tightened and she sniffed the air slightly, but 494 couldn't guess why. "His was 493. You must be twinned." The girl replied.

494 nodded. "493...Your fellow traitor. Went psycho." 494 said, smirking slightly.

The girl glared at him. "What do you know about it?" She snapped.

494 narrowed his eyes at her. "I know that because of him I had to spend six months in psy-ops. They wanted to make sure it wasn't genetic. Looks like ten years in the world finally got to him." 494 snapped in reply.

"It was this place that got to him." The girl spat at him.

494 sighed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Well, let's get this over with, huh?" 494 asked, removing his shirt.

"What are you doing?" The girl asked, moving away from him.

494 frowned again. "We've been paired off. I'm your breeding partner." 494 was confused. Hadn't she been briefed?

"My what?" The girl exclaimed, her eyes going wide.

"We're supposed to copulate every night until you get pregnant." 494 replied.

The girl made a choked gagging noise. "That's sick!" The girl cried.

494 snorted. "It's your own fault. If you and your friends hadn't blown up the DNA database, they'd still be whipping up embryos and putting them into surrogates. Take off your clothes." 494 said. He knew she didn't want to do it, but hey, he had to at least act as if he cared about their orders.

"Get out of my cell!" The girl spat.

494 moved towards her slightly. "We've got our orders." 494 replied, taking a step closer.

The girl kicked him in the stomach, sending him backwards against the door.

"What the hell was that?!" 494 exclaimed, slowing getting back to his feet, not wanting to scare the girl into kicking him again.

"The only kind of physical contact you and I are gonna have." The girl snapped.

494 snorted derisively. "You know, this isn't isn't exactly a plum assignment for me either. You spent half your life out there in filth and degradation. I could catch something." 494 said snarkily.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Whatever you need to tell yourself. Just as long as we understand each other." The girl replied.

494 held his hands up in defeat. "Fine. Don't freak out on me." 494 said, moving backwards towards the door.

494 smirked when he say the girl look at him in surprise. He moved to put his shirt back on, attempting to make the girl feel a bit more comfortable. That last kick was a bit too close to the family jewels than 494 was comfortable with.

"I took Common Verbal Usage when I got cleared for my solo missions." 494 explained.

The girl scoffed. "Oh, you mean assassinations."

494 raised his eyebrows at her. "It was my job. If you're gonna bust my chops about it, go ahead."

Both X5's looked up and noticed a guard peering into the room through the small porthole window in the door.

"He's reading love poetry. You know, to get me in the mood." The girl snapped sarcastically, making 494 try and swallow a chuckle.

"The girl's got sass." 494 thought to himself.

The guard looked over at 494. "You got something for me?"

494 grinned as he pulled an object out of his pocket and handed it to the guard. The guard then handed him some money. 494 reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple of cigars and then handed them to the guard.

"Do me a favour-give these to Vic. Tell him he can pay me later." 494 said, smirking at the guard.

The guard nodded. "No problem." He said, almost kindly.

"Thanks." 494 replied.

The guard walked away. 494 turned back to the girl and put the money that the guard paid him into his very fat leather wallet.

494 caught the girl's quizzical look. "He's got a thing for those vitamins they make us pop every morning." 494 explained.

A ghost of a smile fell onto the girl's face, making 494 mentally cheer at this slight victory. "I'm not even gonna ask about the cigars." She said.

494 chuckled softly. "I got a few things working. Listen, I've got an hour to kill before I head back to the barracks. Why don't you wake me up at 0100?" 494 said, moving over to the girl's bed and lying down on it.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Help yourself." She said, sitting down on the ground next to the door. There was silence for a few more moments before the girl spoke again. "Really, a whole hour?"

494 let out a short laugh. "Hey, I have a reputation to maintain." 494 replied, winking at the girl.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Huh, and I thought all guys were the same. Eager to start, quick to finish." The girl said, not even trying to hide her sarcasm.

"Yeah, but that's the beauty of being young…and a super-soldier. Quick recovery time. The offer to test it out is still open." 494 said, opening his eyes and looking at the, frankly, beautiful young woman.

The girl snorted. "Yeah, no thanks." The girl replied, not looking at him.

494 shrugged. "Your loss 452." 494 replied.

The girl turned to glare at him. "My name is Max!" The girl snapped.

494 sighed. "Whatever you say, kid." 494 replied, rolling onto his side, facing the wall.

Max had been trying to find her way out of Manticore the moment she had been put in her cell. The last thing she had expected when she came back from her exploration of the cells underground was 494 sitting on her bed.

"Forget we had a date?" 494 asked, smirking at her.

Max rolled her eyes, trying to ignore 494's amazing scent. "So when did the stormtroopers bust in?" Max snapped as she rose to her feet.

494 chuckled. "Don't worry. I didn't set off the alarm. Not yet." 494 said, winking at her.

Max glared at him. "What do you want?" She snapped.

"I'm not looking for trouble. What you do is your own business." 494 said, rising from the bunk, allowing Max to lift it up so she could put the brick and her tool back into their respective places.

"Why do you want out of here so much? You've got a roof over your head, plenty to eat...which is more than you can say about most people out there."

Max turned to 494 and glared. "You think Manticore takes care of you out of the goodness of its heart? It's using you." Max snapped.

"Nobody's using me." 494 scoffed.

Max rolled her eyes again. "That's what you don't get. You're working for the bad guys." Max replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

494 helped Max put the bed back into place and walked toward the door. "I'm gonna be out of here in five minutes to go back to my cell, and you'll get rid of me for the night. Okay, 452?" 494 said, his signature smirk in place.

"My name's Max!" Max snapped.

"Whatever you say." 494 said, repeating what he had said the previous night.

Max moved up into his space. 494 was finding her scent intoxicating, but he held it together.

"You should have a name too." Max smirked.

494 tried to subtlety take a steadying breath, but Max's smirk told him that she had noticed. "I told you, my designation's 494." 494 said, meeting Max's eyes.

Max shook her head, almost coyly. "Doesn't suit you. I'm gonna call you Alec."

494 raised an eyebrow. "Alec?" He asked.

"As in smart aleck." Max said, smirking at him again.

"I can live with that." 494, now Alec, said, attempting to control his breathing as this tempting creature moved even closer.

Max moved her lips to Alec's ear. "Good. 'Cause my second choice was Dick." Max said and pulled away from him suddenly, walking to the other end of the cell, leaving Alec by the door.

Alec took in a deep breath, needing it to steady himself and called for the guard through the door.

As the guard opened the door, Alec turned to smile at Max. "See you around...Max." He said, the door closing behind him.

Max smiled to herself. He was an asshole, but not as much of an asshole as she thought he would be.

Okay, firstly, sorry I haven't updated this is so long! I have had so much going on! I am up to my neck in school work, plus I went to a Supernatural convention. That's right my friends! I got to meet and take a picture with Jensen FREAKING Ackles! Oh, it was wonderful and I felt myself suffering from post-convention blues. You don't just meet a man like that, one who practically glows, and then just get over it. He is so much more beautiful (if that is even possible) in person. And he is SO nice. When I got him to sign my photo, I said "thank you for making me feel worthwhile", he gripped my hand in both of his and said "you are, you are worthwhile", and kissed my freaking hand! I still can't breathe! I kept thinking "is this real life? Is this really happening?" Yes, it happened, and I am so happy. My life is never getting better than this! :D

Secondly, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! How did Max fall into the hands of Manticore? Find out next chapter! Please read and review! :D I love each and everyone of you! 3