Max entered her apartment with Alec close in tow. She dumped herself on the couch and let out a pained moan.

Alec dropped the bag of things that Max had accumulated at the hospital on the floor in the middle of the kitchen and moved over to her. He grabbed a hold of her arm and pulled her to her feet.

"Ah, what the hell are you doing?" Max groaned through her sore throat and stuffy nose.

"You're going to bed." He said trying to hold her up as she slipped back onto the couch.

"Alec, fling off." She said slapping at him. "I've been in bed for a week and a half, I don't need to be in there again."

"Maybe," Alec started, "but now you've picked up some kind of flu from that yucky hospital and are going to stay in bed until it goes away."

"Don't you start with me!" Max warned. "I don't need you telling me what to do. In the past two weeks, I've been threatened, driven out of town, shot, fussed over, bossed around and now I have a small cold and you thing it's the end of the world."

"Max I'm just trying to make sure you're okay, you were just shot in the shoulder." Alec reminded her.

"Just?" Max asked, "It was two weeks ago!"

"A week and three days." He corrected.

"Whatever!" Max was getting frustrated, "I had to have my heart transplanted and I was out doing drills within five days. Don't act like I could break at any second, I'm not glass."

"I don't care if your freakin gold, you're going to bed." Alec said pulling her up again.

"No!" She slapped his hand that was gripped onto her upper arm.

"Yes!" Alec picked her up, flung her over his shoulder and carried her kicking and screaming into her room. He put her on her bed and started to take off her shoes.

"Bastard!" She cursed lying motionless on her bed.

Alec smiled to himself.

~*

Max strolled into Jam Pony the next day looking even worse than she felt.

"Max!" Normal was surprised to see her, "I really didn't think that you'd be back so soon after someone shot you."

"Thanks Normal." She said sarcastically and walking up to the desk to try and start a conversation with the man.

~*

Alec saw Max come in and turned to Cindy. "What the hell is she doing here?" He asked Cindy angrily. "She's meant to be resting!"

Cindy joined him in watching Max show off her new wound to Normal. "You can't keep a good girl down."

"She looks like shit run over twice!" Alec yelled.

"She looks aiight to me." Cindy said before turning to go back to her locker.

"She looks like she's going to faint." Alec said leaving Cindy and approaching Max.

Max saw him coming and held up a hand to silence him. "Before you go all protective on me. Let me remind you that I am fine!"

"You look pale and pasty." He said putting the back of his hand on her head.

"I am pale and pasty but I feel fine." She informed him.

"Normal she has to go home to bed." Alec turned to Normal for support.

"Alec," Max yelled just as Normal opened his mouth to say something, "I don't need bed, I don't need rest, I need to get on with my life!" She yelled gripping Normal's desk before she fell over.

Alec took a hold of her and led her towards the door. "You're sick and I'm not going to have you kill yourself by getting on a bike and riding all over town."

"Shut up!" She yelled but didn't try to fight him off just walked as he pushed her along.

~*

As Max lay in bed waiting for Alec to come in and give her another lecture she finally got the chance to think. She hadn't spoken to Logan since that day in the hospital when he thought she was dead. "Maybe he's avoiding me?" she asked herself.

"Maybe who's avoiding you?" Alec questioned handing her a cup of coffee and sitting on the end of her bed.

"Logan he's." Max trailed off when she saw his face drop. "What?"

"Nothing." Alec leaned over and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah." Max sighed. "I'll be fine. Alec."

"Yes?" He asked hoping that she beg him to hold her and never leave her.

She was going to ask him to stay with her, that what she wanted but she already felt stupid thinking about it. She felt her face go red. "Nothing."

"Okay." Alec shrugged his shoulders and left her room. He decided to go back to work and visit Max later.

~*

"Hi," Logan spoke into his phone to Lydecker's message bank, "it's Logan again. I've been trying to get in touch with you for about ten months now. I know about the car accident and I don't know if you're alive or not but I have to keep trying. Max wants to see you." He hung up the phone hoping that the mention of Max would coach him into getting in touch.

Logan was tired. He worried about Max so much. He had stepped around her knowing that she would be angry with him for not telling her about Asha being a psycho killer. He got up and left his office for the kitchen in a hope to find some lunch.

"Logan." A small voice called him from the corner of his lounge room.

"Asha." He replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Relax. I'm not going to kill you." Asha said hurt by her own words. "I came to say that I'm sorry for everything. White had me backed into a corner."

"No he didn't." Logan said bitterly. "I saw the e-mail from him on your computer."

"You went through my stuff?" Asha asked shocked. "Why?"

"I knew it was you." He said quietly. "I was coming to apologize for jumping to conclusions. I didn't want to believe that you could kill someone but I knew it was you."

"So when you asked about the S1W, you really wanted to know if I killed them?" She asked still remaining calm.

"Yeah, basically." He said shoving his hands into his pockets and staring at the floor.

"Well, that's okay then, I suppose." Asha felt regret running through her. "Please forgive me."

"What?" Logan asked surprised, "You tried to kill my girlfriend and her kind and you want me to forgive you?"

"I never wanted to hurt you Logan." Asha stated. "Max just makes me so angry, she doesn't deserve you."

"Asha please leave now." Logan requested without looking at her.

"Don't you want to call the cops or something?" Asha asked bitterly.

"No," Logan replied, "no because I'm not that kind of friend."

Asha left without saying another word.

~*

*Flashback*

"Tell me about these dead transgenics." Logan said taking her gloved hand in his and pulled her out of her work place.

"Well." Max started, "From what I saw there were bullet wounds, three."

"Ouch." Logan commented. "Look, I'm really sorry for not telling you about Jondy. I'm trying to get her to come here. I didn't want to get your hopes up. Please don't try to get in contact with her. I don't want to scare her off. I'll handle it, I promise."

"Thanks." Max smiled at him.

*End Flashback*

Max woke up and stared at the ceiling. She was running a fever and shaking like hell. "Damn you." She cursed the hospital and climbed out of bed and headed for her tryptophan.

The bathroom tiles were cold but she had to sit, it's not like she had a choice she fell over and was laying sprawled all over the floor. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths then carefully got to her feet.

"I'm hungry." She said to the fridge door before pulling it open. When there was nothing that interested her she decided to go back to bed. She turned and carefully stepped over the bag that Alec left in the middle of the room and went back into the bathroom.

Her tryptophan was left all over the floor. "Shit!" She swore bending down to pick it up. The rush of blood to the head wasn't a good thing for Max and she fainted.

~*

"Hot run!" Normal yelled throwing a package in Alec's direction.

"Normal, I can't do it." Alec said taking it back to him. "I have to check on Max."

"Check Max later, deliver the package now." Normal picked up the package and pushed it into his arms.

"I can't, I'm sorry." Alec said backing away from him. "Well, I'm not really sorry, but I had to say something." He turned quickly and ran before Normal started throwing sharp objects at him.

~*

Alec entered Max's apartment and went straight to her room. He only half expected her to still be in bed when he came to check on her. He went searching the apartment looking for her before he decided to start a search party. Sure enough there was an unconscious Max lying head over toe on the bathroom floor in a pile of tryptophan.

He rolled his eyes. "Max," he said softly shaking her. "Max."

She moaned painfully and looked up at him. He was wearing one of his goofy smiles that, nine times out of ten, made her want to smack his face in.

"I didn't know that bathroom floors were more comfortable then beds, mind if I join you?" He said smartly sitting next to her.

"I passed out." She groaned then coughed.

"I think we should get you some medication." He said watching her struggle to roll on to her back before giving her a slight push.

"No!" She yelled croaky. "No more doctors, no more hospitals, no more self centered nurses."

"You're sick." He pointed out just incase she forgot.

"Thanks." She said sarcastically trying to sit up.

Alec was fed up. He lifted Max into his arms and carried her off to bed. "Stay!" he commanded.

"Alec, I'm a big girl and I can take care of my self!" She was getting disorientated.

"I'm sure that you can." Alec watched her sway from side to side waving her arms around.

She got on her knees in her bed and wrapped her arms around him. "I think I know you from somewhere." She said screwing with him.

"Ha, you're real funny." He said allowing her to hang off him.

"I'm very tired." She said releasing him and scrunching her self into a tight ball at the head of her bed.

Alec sighed and pulled the blankets up to her shoulders.

She grabbed a hold of his hand as it released the blanket and pulled him onto the bed. "Alec, I'm sick." She admitted, wrapping his arm around her and resting her head against his chest.

As she drifted straight to sleep, Alec watched her face and her struggled breathing. "You're gonna give it to me." He whispered.

~*

Logan decided that he couldn't avoid Max forever, if she got mad then she got mad and there was nothing he could do.

He picked up the phone and dialed Max's number. It rang and rang just as Logan was about to hang up a voice answered.

"Yep?" Alec asked.

"Alec?" Logan asked curiously, "What are you doing at Max's place?"

"She's not well." Alec answered heading back to where Max lie coughing uncontrollably. "Logan's on the phone." He handed her the phone and rubbed her back gently.

"Hello." Max groaned into the phone.

"You sound well." Logan commented. "I was calling to see how you were doing now but you're obviously not doing that well."

"I got sick in hospital." Max complained.

"Can transgenics get sick?" Logan asked confused.

"We're human Logan." She replied. "Not usually. Unless the thingy system thing is like down or something and a bug or virus or whatever gets in and attacks you what's-a-magig and then you get sick like a normal person."

Alec snatched the phone away from her. "She means immune system."

"Alec put Max back on." Logan said frustrated.

"I'm here." Max's croaky voice reappeared.

"Are you going to be alright?" Logan asked sounding worried.

"Why does everybody think that I'm going to die or something?" Max questioned annoyed.

"I'm just worried about you." Logan said.

"I know." Max replied. "I will be fine. I promise."

"I hope so." Logan said still worried even after her assurance.

"I will be!" Max yelled laughing but still annoyed.

"Okay, love you." He said casually.

"You too." She replied before hanging up the phone.

Logan didn't feel like she was even there anymore. He missed not being able to hold her and kiss her the way he once could. He sighed and turned on his computer and began typing away.

~*

Original Cindy entered the apartment at about ten o'clock that night. She would have come home straight after work but she knew that Alec was taking good care of Max and she wouldn't have to.

Still she had to check that she was all right. Cindy quietly stuck her head in the door.

Max was laying on her back with Alec laying to her left with his arm slung over her.

"Damn girl you've worn the boy out." Cindy giggled to herself as she watched to two sleep soundly.

She headed off to bed herself and slept through the night without being disturbed once.

~*

Max woke up and slapped Alec off her and start to cough repeatedly.

"Good morning to you too." Alec said looking at her smartly and slapping her back.

"Ouch!" She cursed and sat up. "Oh, the room is spinning."

"I think you should stay in bed again today." Alec suggested.

"Alec," Max whined, "I'm sick of being in bed, I want fresh air, I need to clear my head. Take me somewhere."

"Where do you want me to take you?" He asked and kissed her nose.

"Somewhere, anywhere, the park." She grabbed at her head.

"What? Are you five now?" Alec questioned handing her a tissue.

"No." Max was losing her temper. "I want air. The park is the only place in this city with trees."

"Okay, okay. I'll take you to the park." Alec gave in. "But only if you eat all of your vegetables."

"Shut up!" She slapped him and let his strong arms pull her into a hug.

~*

Max sat on the park bench and watched the children play. There were fairies and pirates engaged in tea parties and swore fights. Max smiled wondering what she would have been like if she had grown up like this.

A pair of hands covered her eyes and a voice whispered, "Guess who."

"Ah," Max said playing with him, "Batman?"

Alec laughed and plopped down on the grass in front of her. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked at her. "What ya thinking?"

"What it would have been like to be a normal child." She replied returning his look. There was something in his eyes that she couldn't explain, like he was showing or about to show her a side of him that she'd never seen.

"And tell me Max, what is normal?" Alec said without changing his expression.

"That." She replied pointing at the happy children playing together. "That is normal."

"Think," Alec grabbed her attention. "Our life was just like theirs, it's just they pretend to run around playing soldiers but we got the real deal."

Max did think about it. She knew that Alec was, in so many ways, right. She looked at her hands. Through all of his stupidity, he was quite smart.

Alec took her hand and pulled her to the ground with him. "Now we can look at the clouds. That one looks like a tiny French poodle." He said pointing at a cloud.

Max cuddled into his shoulder and let him hold her. "You know what, I think you're right."

Alec knew that she didn't mean the cloud, that she meant their lives at Manticore, he just smiled to himself and pointed out another cloud.