Joss leaned back in the battered lawn chair she was sitting in, watching Max trying to teach Kylie the fine art of self-defense.

She chuckled to herself as she watched the two older girls fight. Well, actually, it was Max, kicking Kylie's ass.

Suddenly, the handsome blond X5 they met the first day they arrived, Alec, came into view.

Both of the girls stopped. Neither of them had broken a sweat, or were breathing hard.

Max eyed him, "What is it Alec?"

"Dix and Luke need you, something's wrong with the water supply again. They're in the command room," Alec said, he glanced at Kylie. "What in the hell have you been doing to her?"

"Manticore never gave her any training, so I've been giving her some pointers," Max nodded at the girl, "I'll see ya later?"

"Sure."

Max left.

Alec opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it.

Joss was watching, "Something on your mind?"

"Can I talk to Kylie alone?" he asked, staring at her pointedly.

A small smile spread across her face, and she shook her head, "Nope, sorry. Can't do. A friend of ours would kick my ass, 'cause I'm her bodyguard."

Hell, she loved annoying people.

He let out a small breath, "Fine," he turned to Kylie, "I was wondering, if you could do me a favor?"

Kylie was instantly suspicious, "What kind of 'favor'?"

His green eyes locked on hers, "The kind of favor you did for Joshua."

She exhaled, "I don't think Max would be too happy with me. She didn't seem too thrilled about looking for Annie's ghost."

He ran a hand through his longish dark blond hair, "Please... if she still around, I have to know if she forgave me. If she understood that... I loved her, and that I never meant to hurt her."

Joss was listening to this tale with rapt fascination.

Kylie's face was serious, "Who exactly is this, and what happened? And you have to tell me, the truth, or I won't even consider helping you."

Something very close to pain flashed over Alec's handsome face.

"Back when I was at Manticore, it was my first deep-cover mission. My assignment was to get information on the billionaire Robert Barrisford, the CEO of Mercidyne Genetics. They were into gene splicing, and one of Manticore's sub-contractors. Barrisford had been asking questions about Manticore, and they decided he needed surveillance...hence, me. I went in, used a cover, I was a piano teacher named Simon Lehane, I taught Berrisford's daughter, Rachel. But as time went by... I fell in love with her. I got the information Manticore wanted, they decided that they wanted him taken out... along with Rachel. I was going to kill Berrisford, even put a bomb under the car, but I lost the nerve. I couldn't kill Rachel's father... so I told Rachel the truth, and she freaked. Ran to tell her father to get out of the car, and the car exploded. Manticore knew I had weakened, so they decided to do the job for me. Only Berrisford didn't get killed. He was out of the car, thanks to Rachel. Only she wasn't so lucky. She got hit on the head by something in the blast, and it put her in a coma. She died a few months ago."

He swallowed hard, looking away.

Joss stared at her hands, no longer finding the story fascinating. It was sad, and another way how Manticore had hurt one of them.

Kylie had listened to Alec's story without interruption, her own eyes glistening as if she could feel his pain.

She tucked back her hair, hesitantly reached out, and took his hand, "Okay. Call me a sucker, but I feel for you."

Alec didn't dare raise his eyes, for fear that he would lose it like he did that night in Rachel's room, and start crying.

"There might be a slight problem though." he said quietly.

"What?"

"Berrisford wanted me dead. He told me never to come back. Although he couldn't do it last time..."

"We'll be careful." Kylie said, through an edge of uncertainty broke through.

"And I'm coming with you." Joss said.

"Oh, no you're not." Alec replied, tossing a glance at the younger girl.

She smiled, one of those wicked smiles that only females seemed capable of giving, "Oh yeah? Well maybe I'll let it slip to Max that you guys are going slumming."

He stared at her for a beat, "You are one wicked little..."

She beamed, "Really? You think? Thanks."

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They waited a few days.

Joss had "procured" herself a motorcycle, a Ducati, almost like Darien had, only Joss had tweaked hers to make it go even faster than it was originally designed for.

She loved going fast, the roads blurring to nonexistence beneath her. So she was thrilled to score the bike. Right now, she was sitting right outside the gates of Terminal City, waiting for Alec and Kylie.

"You guys ready to go?" she asked, perched on the bike. She had been out all night, riding, 'cause she hated being cooped up.

Alec had a bike of his own, a green Harley. Not as fast as her own, but still pretty kick-ass. Kylie was gonna ride double with him over to Berrisford's.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyone ever tell you that you need a Valium?" Alec muttered, gunning the motor.

As a reply, because she was feeling so mature, she stuck out her tongue, and peeled off, Alec at her heels.

******************************************************************************

"Holy shit, this is Berrisford's house?" Joss asked, green eyes wide as she took in the mansion.

"Yeah. I told you he was a billionaire." Alec said shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, why we're here, how 'bout we score ourselves a TV or stereo system or something?" Joss suggested.

To that, Kylie slapped her on the head.

"Ow. Hey, I was just sayin', look he's got more money than Jesus. What would he care if we took a television or two?" Joss said, as she rubbed her head.

Alec was torn in two ways as he listened to the girl talk. It hurt to hear someone talk about ripping off Rachel's house, but on the other hand, the kid sounded so much like him, he wanted to laugh.

"On three. One-two-three." Alec whispered.

With the cat-like grace that was evident in their every move, they jumped the fence in a single bound.

"Okay. Now where?" Kylie asked Alec.

With hand signals, he made it clear where they needed to go.

Rachel's room. Where she had laid, in a coma, for years. Where she had died.

Slowly, silently Joss picked the lock on the door. They went inside, the house was dark, no lights on.

Thanks to their enhanced genes though, they could easily see through the gloom.

Turning to Alec, she mouthed

Does he have an alarm?

Alec nodded, and after a moments tampering, it was disabled.

Again using hand signals, they climbed the curved marble staircase that Alec remembered all too well.

"Simon, you're hurting me."

He remembered her sweet voice, and shook his head to clear it.

A few more feet, and... a light flickered at the end of the hallway.

He opened the door to Rachel's room, and the trio went quickly inside, shutting the door silently behind them.