A/N: Thanks for all who have reviewed. Reviews are a great motivator to keep me writing. As well they let me know if I'm on target with my characters or if I've made any glaring errors. So keep those reviews coming !

Max strode briskly into the kitchen the next morning to find Alec and Asha just finishing up their meal. Alec grunted at her and Asha waved her hand in the direction of a covered plate on the island.

"Logan left that for you." Max walked over and taking off the cover was greeted by the heavenly smell of freshly made blueberry pancakes. They were still gently steaming as she brought the plate over to the table. Setting it down she turned to find Asha holding out a cup of coffee to her.

"Thanks." She sipped some of the coffee then looking at Asha questioned "How's Joshua?"

"He woke up this morning. He's got a killer headache but I think he's gonna be okay. I gave him some strong painkillers and right now he's sleeping again." The last as Max started to rise to go see him. Max dropped back down in her seat and tackled her breakfast savoring each bite. One sure thing about Logan; the man was a god in the kitchen. Max was just finishing up when a pair of strong hands came down to rest on her shoulders and she turned in her seat to meet Logan's sparkling blue eyes. Self-consciously she glanced over at Alec and Asha who were watching curiously but Logan disregarded their audience and leaned in to drop a kiss on her lips.

"Mmm you taste like more." he teased noting her embarrassment but determined not to give in to it. He had had enough of denying their feelings both to themselves and to others. From now on he intended to put them all right up front and Max was going to have to learn to deal. Max gave in to his kiss for a moment relishing the taste of him, almost forgetting where they were. She started to reach up to pull him closer but remembered in time that they had an audience so instead broke the kiss and pulled back

"Logan." Max protested as he tried to kiss her again. "Get serious. Please." Logan chuckled and pulled out the chair next to her sliding easily into it.

"I am completely serious when it comes to you Max. Always." His words and tone were light but the underlying meaning was clear. Max felt a warm rush of feeling and turned to her coffee to cover her confusion.

"What's the news on the net?" Asha asked as Max tried to gather together her thoughts.

Logan instantly sobered. "Not good, Redmond came through on his idea of random street barcode checks and the council agreed to it. They're starting today. That means it isn't safe on the streets for either Alec or Max right now."

"Logan I am not going to just sit here and wait for them to decide to start walking into people's homes searching for transgenics. We have to do something." Max's voice was determined.

"I agree. We can't just sit around. I need you both out there helping me look for Deck. He may be the key to all this for us." Max was surprised by Logan's easy agreement to her protest expecting him to turn all overprotective on her. "That's why we have an appointment at Sebastian's this morning. He has someone lined up to remove both of your barcodes."

"But Logan, I told you… " Max began only to be cut off by him.

"…that it's temporary and they come back in a few weeks. I know and I hate to make you go through it but I don't see any other way. Covering them with makeup is too risky. They have to be gone."

"He's right Maxie." Alec spoke up and Max glared at him.

"Oh yeah you'd love it. Once you get it off you'll be history around here" Turning to Logan she said, "You heard him last night. Why make it easy for him to just cut out?"

"Because despite his words I don't think he will just cut out and we need his help. You can't do it alone and Joshua certainly can't be seen publicly, now more than ever."

Max frowned at the truth in his words and turned to Alec. "I'll go along with Logan on this but if you do drop us on our ass I personally will make it my new mission to find you and kill you myself." Asha bristled at Max's words but before she could say anything Joshua ambled into the kitchen.

Max jumped up and ran over to him "Joshua! How are you feeling? Should you be out of bed?"

The big transgenic patted Max on the head and smiled at her. "Head hurts but Joshua has hard head. Take a lot to keep him down." Max led him to a chair and asked him anxiously,

"Are you hungry?" Joshua nodded. Logan raised his eyebrows at Max but rose from his chair.

"I'll cook for him Logan…" Max began only to be stopped by Logan and Joshua both saying in unison

"NO!" Alec cracked up laughing at the look on Max's face and Asha looked puzzled until Logan explained with a chuckle.

"Max can burn water trying to boil it." Max just glared at him and Asha simply said

"Oh." not sure she wanted to get into the middle of things. Logan started some scrambled eggs for Joshua while Max continued to pout and shoot him aggrieved looks. Alec was still laughing until Max finally had had enough and turned on him.

"Oh shut up already."

"Sorry, Maxie." Alec grinned. "Just thinking of the um, toast was it? You know. You made it at the cabin. At least I think it was supposed to be toast. Almost broke a tooth on it it was so hard…."

"That's it." Before Alec could react Max turned and grabbed the glass of water sitting in front of Asha and dumped it over Alec's head. Now it was her turn to burst into laughter as he sat there dripping wet, stunned by her action. Asha smothered a giggle and Logan grinned. Joshua just looked at Alec and shook his head.

"Could have told you not to get little fella mad, Alec." Alec sat there a moment then grinned himself.

"Guess I deserved that one. Truce, Max?" He held out his hand and Max smiled back and reached out to shake it. For the first time since Alec had come into their lives she felt a little better about him. Logan insisted that he wasn't all bad, that there was potential there so she decided she would give him a chance.

Asha had left after Max poured the water over Alec and now quietly returned with a towel, which she handed to Alec to dry off his dripping hair. He did so then casually reached down and pulled off his soaked T-shirt exposing his well-muscled chest. Max was busy talking to Joshua and paid no attention but Logan was interested to note the slight blush on Asha's cheeks as she watched Alec. Joshua's eggs were done so he made no comment busying himself putting them on a plate with some unburned toast he had made to go with them.

Half an hour later, with everyone fed and the dishes cleaned up Logan, Alec and Max were ready to head to Sebastian's. Asha and Joshua were staying behind since they all agreed it was too risky to bring him out in the present situation. The two X-5's had covered their barcodes with makeup but they were all hoping it wouldn't be put to the test. They were taking Logan's Aztek with the thought that even if they were stopped his VIP passes would prevent a thorough scrutiny of him and more importantly his two passengers.

The trip was uneventful until they were about two blocks from Sebastian's place. They had passed through all the sector checkpoints easily but now ahead of them was a police roadblock. Max and Logan exchanged looks. There was a lineup of cars waiting to pass the roadblock and beginning about a block ahead there were Sector Police watching to make sure no one left any of the cars waiting in line.

Max leaned out her window and looked up then motioned to Alec. He looked where she was pointing and nodded. Max turned to Logan.

"We can go over the roofs from here. I doubt they're watching them."

"Max, my passes should be good." Logan protested.

"What if they're not? There are too many guns up ahead. I'm not taking a chance on you getting hurt if they start shooting. A random stop would have been one thing but a full roadblock is more than I want to risk."

"She's right Logan. If they pick us out even if we make it through by force, they'll have you identified. We need to keep your cover and freedom of movement." Alec chimed in agreeing with Max. Logan didn't like it but nodded reluctantly. At that moment there was a commotion up ahead and the Sector Police turned all of their attention to it. Logan glanced that way to see what was going on and when he turned back, Alex and Max were gone. He sighed then reached for his papers to be sure all were in order. He wasn't going to breathe easily until he reached Sebastian's and was reunited with the two X-5's but for now there wasn't much he could do.

Twenty minutes later he was sitting impatiently as the uniformed officer perused his papers. Finally the man folded them up and Logan reached for them expecting to receive them back.

"I'm sorry Mr. Cale. We're going to have to ask you to pull your vehicle over here and come with us." The officer announced to his shock. Logan looked around and realized that uniformed officers holding semi-automatic rifles at the ready had surrounded his car.

"What the hell?" he blustered trying to bluff his way out. "What is this about? You have no reason to detain me"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss anything with you Mr. Cale. Please pull your vehicle over there." Logan calculated the odds then decide there was no sense in committing suicide. He nodded shortly at the officer and began to pull over to the spot indicated. On the way he reached down and thumbed open his cell phone then punched in Sebastian's speed dial. Waiting until he thought Sebastian would have answered he quickly pressed the keypad in a precise order, not daring to bring the phone to his mouth. Finished he snapped the phone closed and replaced it into his pocket. Now he could only hope that the connection had gone through and Sebastian received his message.

Shortly after he was ushered into a small office in a nearby building. The room was empty except for a desk and chair and after waving him in his escort stepped outside closing the door behind them. Logan glanced around looking for any other exits or clues as to why he was here. There were none and since they had confiscated his phone he was reduced to sitting and waiting to see what was going to happen next.

After what seemed an eternity he heard voices outside the door. It opened and he was startled by a familiar voice.

"Logan Cale. I understand you've been trying to find me?" Donald Lydecker stood there, dressed in his customary black, his face unreadable.