AN: People wanting more info on Psyche? Well, here she is, this is she!

"What do you mean, she left?" Max rounded on Alec as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He cringed slightly; Max was very angry with him and he wanted certain parts of his body to stay attached.

"I mean she left, went, Psyche has left the building, gone." He replied, risking all those parts he loved in teasing her.

"Shut up Alec, I want to know why she left." Max continued to drag things out of her locker into her backpack, including her pager.

"Hey, not my fault. I walked in on her in the middle of a deal. She was already edgy." He tried to reason with her. Unsuccessfully. She slammed her locker door shut forcefully and shoved past him, sending him a step back. "I'm sorry okay. I mentioned Manticore and she clammed up and left."

"Dah." She replied. "So would I if I was a Manticore escapee."

"Hot run..." Max grabbed the package out of Normal's hands and was out the JamPony door so fast she never heard where it was to be delivered. Normal yelled after her. "Corner of Madison and Fifth. Bip, bip, bip."

He shooed Alec out after Max and he pedalled fast after her.

"What are you doing following me Alec?" Max's still pissed off voice reached his ears and he grinned as she had to slow down for traffic.

"To give you the address." He replied, smirking at his ingeniousness and then dodging a small kid playing handball on the pavement.

"Its written on the package Einstein." The smile instantly fell from his face and Max laughed at him. But he continued to follow her to the address. In perfect annoying Alec fashion.

The address was a swanky old warehouse done up pretty nice. Max parked her bike, leaning it on the wall at the front and knocked on the front door. Alec did the same with his bike and then sidled up behind her, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Nice place." He looked up at the front of the building. Max elbowed him in the stomach as the front door opened.

"Don't speak." She muttered to him, then smiled at the young Japanese woman that answered the door as Alec grasped his abdomen and grimaced.

"Hi, I'm a JamPony Messenger, I have a package for a Miss P. Halliwell." Max looked down at the name on the package and read it out, then back to the woman, still smiling.

"Come in, come in." The young woman ushered them into the large warehouse.

Alec followed Max into the large warehouse and took a good look around. The warehouse was nearly 40 metres long and nearly 20 metres wide. There was only one floor, the roof being 2 floors high. At the right end of the ware house there was a second floor, a loft nearly 15 metres wide, with a spiral staircase down the middle of it. Alec took all this in in less that a second.

Max handed the package to the Japanese woman who moved down the length of the ware house to the second floor loft. She took in the way the place was furnished. Right in front of her was a huge exercise mat with a nice and decent sized punching bag and dummy. There was a dart board on the wall, gymnastics bars and everything Max could have ever wanted to keep in shape.

"494 and 452." A cool voice travelled down the length of the ware house from the loft. Max instantly had all her heightened senses on where the voice came from. She was startled to realise someone knew her designation, they must be from Manticore or White. Alec bristled beside her, but he knew who the voice belonged, so unfurled by the intrusion. The owner of the voice stepped out from the shadows and into the light of a skylight, her hand resting on the railing. "Alec was it now?"

Psyche stood on the loft, her hawk eyesight watching their every move. 452 was very pretty, petite with long straight dark brown hair. She was wearing a tight navy tank with a faded army green coloured jacket with some comfortable three quarter length black pants. There was no mistaking her Manticore heritage. She was tensed up, ready to attack given the slightest need. Alec in daylight was a nice sight, even though with her eyesight, it was easy for her to see his every feature the night before anyway.

Max studied the girl on the loft as closely as she knew she was being studied. The girl had to be 17 or 18 with long red hair, in a huge plait down to her waist. It had blonde highlights and streaks in it, highlighting her nicely tanned skin. She was tall and had the perfect Manticore trademarked figure. She was obviously very fit with all her equipment, and stayed in shape. She was wearing some dark flared jeans that were way too long, tight at the top clutching her figure. Her top was a light blue tank with black lack covering it.

Alec saw Psyche in a different way. He saw her long legs, her model body, thanks to Manticore and probably great in the sack as an X series. And that Japanese woman was nice too. She was behind Psyche and she passed Psyche the package and the form she needed to sign. Psyche did so and dismissed her, turning back to Alec and 452.

'That Japanese woman really was nice. All the right curves, right where they should be'. As he was staring at the Japanese woman Psyche suddenly leapt over the railing and onto the bottom floor, landing on both feet and perfectly balanced.

"Like a cat." Muttered Max. She was beginning to realise who the girl was, but not dropping her guard. She didn't move and inch as the girl walked over the mat towards them.

"Psyche." The girl stated, coming to a stop a few metres away from the pair of X-5s. "And you are?"

Max relaxed and allowed herself to smile. She held out her hand in a friendly gesture. "I'm Max. I prefer that to 452."

"Oh really?" Psyche asked her, taking her hand in a friendly handshake and smiling at her. "That's what 494 said last night. Although, he stated Alec."

"So it is." Alec replied, walking around her equipment and then sitting down on the nearest chair he could find. "Nice digs."

"I know, I do try." She answered, watching Alec move with liquid grace. 'He really was cute'. She shook her head of the thought and proceeded to observe Max walking around her equipment, studying it. Max looked up at her.

"So, how long have you been in Seattle?" She continued to scoop the place out as Psyche answered.

"A few days. I get my stuff shipped out so it's here when I get here." Psyche motioned for Kari, her Japanese maid to leave "So, you two are messengers?:

Max looked up at her from where she was admiring Psyche's collection of thief's toys displayed on the wall.

"Yeah, keeps me honest." Replied Max. Alec just gave a non-committal grunt as he leafed through a couple of Psyche's girly magazines. Max cocked her head towards Alec. "He's a messenger by day. What he does by night, I really don't care to know about."

She continued to look at Psyche's fitness toys as Alec looked up at Psyche and smirked at her.

"If you want, I can show you what I do by nights." Alec told her, putting down the magazine and getting up.

Even though it was a really tempting offer and Psyche's brain was really fighting her body, her brain won over and she smiled seductively at him to keep her body happy and turned away from him.

"Leave her alone Alec." Max said, coming up behind him and hitting him upside the head. "Look Psyche, I just want to ask you if you would reconsider helping us?"

"What?" Psyche's brow creased in confusion, she had no idea what Max wanted.

"Alec asked you for your help last night?" Psyche nodded in agreement. She remembered the conversation and how she left.

"He wanted my help with a gig." She replied, watching Alec color slightly.

"He didn't tell you what it was for?" Max hit him upside the head again. "I need your help in bringing down Manticore for the last time."

"Alec, you never said that. I wouldn't have left." Psyche was annoyed, she had been planning to skip town later in the day.

"Look, it's my fault, I should never have let him help, I was doing something for a friend and he stuffs it up." They both looked at him.

"I'm sorry." Was all he could muster.