Part 12: Happy Endings

Angela woke up the next morning, feeling better than she had in months. She tried to stretch, but was stopped by the arms around her. She smiled remembering that Alec had come back last night. She was so happy! And hungry. For the first time in months she was actually hungry. She nudged Alec with a roll of her hip, but he just mumbled incoherently and pulled her closer to him.

"Alec," she whispered. "We need to get up, I'm starving."

"Sleeping," he muttered.

Angela grinned. "I realise that, but I need food."

Alec groaned, but reluctantly opened his eyes. "I haven't slept in ages, I used all my energy coming to get you, now I have a warm bed to sleep in and you're waking my up. That's just cruel."

Angela's grinned widened. "I know, and I'm sorry, but I need to eat."

Alec's arms tightened around her for a moment before he nodded. "You do, you've lost too much weight. Didn't they feed you while I was gone." He asked, concerned that anyone had let her get this thin.

"I was never hungry." Angela shrugged, "But now I am, so get up and I'll make us some pancakes." She pulled away from him to go out to the kitchen.

Alec got up fast. "Well if you're cooking, then."

Angela rolled her eyes, but walked out to the kitchen, not waiting for him. She smiled brilliantly at Logan and Max who were in another chess game. "Good morning everyone."

"You seem happy," Max, commented, looking at her strangely.

"Am I?" Angela asked. "I can't think of any reason to be so happy." She walked into the kitchen humming some pre-pulse song.

"Morning," Alec said walking past Max and Logan and into the kitchen.

"Morning," the repeated, not really paying attention. Then their heads snapped up and they bolted for the kitchen, where they saw Alec calmly sitting at the table and Angela making breakfast.

Angela, seeing the looks of shock on their faces asked innocently. "Do you guys want pancakes for breakfast too?"

"Angela," Max said in excitement. "You do know that Alec's in the kitchen."

Angela nodded. "He arrived late last night. Now do you want pancakes or not?"

Max grinned and nodded. "Sure," she said walking over to Alec where she hit him on the arm, hard.

"Hey," he cried, "Do I have a sign that says 'hit me'? Angela already did that, so why are you doing it?"

"Why didn't you come sooner?" Max demanded. "Why did you let me best friend practically waste away, and then only come when we call you?"

"Max," Angela said softly. "He thought I was with Zack."

"Does that matter?" Max asked. "You should have come anyway to make sure she was okay. Would that have killed you?"

Alec shook his head. "I should have come to check on her, but I figured, I didn't want to see her with Zack, that would have hurt too much. So after Manticore went down, I left. I figured it was better for everyone if they didn't know where I went."

"Well, you should have come and seen us anyway." Max said, although with less heat now.

"Max," Angela grinned. "I've already had a go at him for this. He has seen the error of his ways and will never leave me again. Isn't that right?"

Alec nodded. "Although I'm still seriously contemplating taking you away from all of this. Your friends are a bad influence on you."

Angela laughed. "But what are we going to do about Manticore? Won't they come looking for us?" Angela asked, worried that there was going to be another obstacle to overcome before they could be at peace.

Alec shook his head. "No, after you sent me they message I went to a place we used to go to, a place Manticore knew about, and I blew it up. They think that all of us, including the other X5's died in the fire." He grinned at his genius.

Max laughed. "Good work, there might be hope for you after all."

"That means we can go back to our old lives," Angela said. "We can go back to work and not worry about being locked up in a lab." She made a face. "Then again, I'm not so sure I want to go back and work at Jam Pony."

Alec left the table and went over to hug her. "Would you still want to work there if I was working there?"

Angela spun around to face him, a huge smiled on her face. "You got a job there? Normal gave you a job? That's so great!"

"That's if Normal gives us our old jobs back." Max commented.

Alec was the one to grin now. "He will, I told him that you were taken away by worshipers of George Herbert Walker Bush to set and a monument in his honour."

Max laughed. "And he believed you? Where did you tell him this monument was?"

"Utah," Alec told them, and they all laughed.

Angela looked around at her friends. She was with Alec and she had everything she wanted. She was happy and her life was now complete.

THE END