"We got her." Christian whispered into his headpiece.
His voice crackled on the speaker and Matt watched as Max froze.
"What's wrong with you?"
Alec's voice crackled over. "Max, I don't think now is the time to tell her."
Max nodded, unable to speak.
"I said…"
"I know what you said, Matt!" Max snapped.
"Move out, Max." Alec chuckled. She was nervous.
Vada's head snapped up from where she had been explaining to Christian about the X7s. "You got my sister down here?"
Alec bit his lip, and Tristan nodded.
"Is there something you're not telling me?" Vada asked, raising her eyebrows and crossing her arms.
"You know what, Matt? I'm going out there. I can do this." Max took a deep breath.
Matt nodded. "She's a little intimidating at first, but she's still pretty cool."
"I can do this!" Max squeaked hopefully.
"Yes, you can!"
"See, Vada, we found out who your parents are." Alec said first, taking a deep breath. "Well, actually.."
Matt showed up. "I did. I did the research."
Vada's face lit up as she smiled and ran to hug her friend. "Who are they then?"
Tristan, snapping through gritted teeth, "Matt.. You can't tell her."
Vada whirled around. "Why?"
"Vada, I'm your father." Alec offered automatically.
"Tristan, it seems as if you knew this before the rest of them." Vada suggested suspiciously, her eyes narrowing.
"He did." Christian told her, shooting a smug smile at his twin.
"When did you guys find out?" Vada demanded, raising her eyebrows even higher.
"I told Max and Alec today." Matt said, stepping back with his arms raised in a forfeiting position.
"And I figured it out today." Christian muttered.
Vada's eyes snapped back to Tristan, who was looking veeeeeeeeeeery guilty.
"I cannot believe you!" She went in and slapped him.
"Oh, she's going to beat 'im." Christian muttered.
"But he's got an extra year on her." Matt whispered.
"But he pulls his punches." Christian explained.
"Stupid! He should never let a girl get in the way!" Matt hissed.
"But that's not just any girl over there."
Max decided her spot, hidden and unknown, was best at the moment. Maybe this was the type of girl that attacked strangers who snuck up on her.
And she was doing a damn good job on this Tristan jerk. Max knew that Alec was holding back the urge to yell, "That's my girl!"
Max heard another kick and the other males just oohed.
She smirked. Her daughter had gone for his groin.
"You know what? You can all go to hell, all of you. Thank you for showing up Dad—Alec. Matt, thanks for doing the information. Christian, thanks for escaping into the dirty real world. I need to let off some steam."
And there were footsteps- More than one pair. They were getting closer and closer and---
"Oh, sorry." Vada whispered before storming off, a small legion of X7s on her tail.
"Hi, I'm Max. I'm your mom." Max whispered to herself, going to go check on the boys.
"What happened back here?" Max demanded, crossing her arms.
"Max, in case you haven't noticed, we're X series males. We're not good with this whole heart-to-heart stuff." Alec explained, shooting her a sheepish glance.
"It's not like I know the girl!" Max whined. "And this is one of those millions of times I have to bail your ass out of some----"
"Why do you have incorporate my ass in every single complaint against me? I know that it is one of the best asses you have ever seen, but---" Alec looked off, chuckling 'modestly'.
"You know what the key to heart-to-heart conversations is? Keeping your mind out of the gutter." Max hissed.
"You're afraid!" Alec accused her.
Max's eyes widened. "Why would you think that?"
"You're afraid she won't like you!" Alec started to look smug.
"I haven't had one conversation with the girl. You've been her surrogate!" Max explained in some sort of whine.
"She's a people person." Matt reminded her.
"She won me over, didn't she?" Christian asked.
"What makes you so important?" Max snapped.
"I'm the asshole CO who kidnapped her." Christian admitted.
"Well, Max, I guess I'm the one who has to save your ass this time." Alec muttered, rolling his eyes and brushing past her.
Max grabbed him by the arm and smiled. "You've saved my ass more than once. And, by the way, you do have a cute ass."