A/N: Thank you Infie, for beta-ing this and for helping me in the ever present quest against the impossible.

A/N2: thank you all for reviewing.

Tough Call

Resolution

Logan sat on his swivel chair, rocking it distractedly as he waited for the satellite to go on-line. He'd been doing these hacks more often lately. At first, it had been a way to show her that even though they were apart, he was still fighting for her cause.

When he'd seen her with Alec, he had been devastated. But he had understood. They couldn't touch. It was too dangerous. And Alec… Alec was a perfect example of integration into society. In the few months he'd been out, he had made more friends than Max ever had. And, as much as he hated to admit it, more than he himself had. She needed that. A normal life. He – Logan- was nothing but a reminder of bad things.

He had known she still loved him and that Alec had just been an attempt at something lighter. He could accept that. He had been sure that in the end, he and Max would be together.

Then, he had been so happy to hear her say nothing had happened between her and Alec. He'd felt so relieved that he had been right all along. She still loved him; she'd been trying to protect him.

That was why it had hit him so hard to learn she had been with him after all. After the whole spiel about Alec being just a friend, Max told him she'd had sex with the guy? I was one thing when he'd gotten used to the idea of them being together. But after she'd given him hope? After he'd been so thrilled?

And not only that! She was pregnant!

He could have forgiven her for sleeping with other another guy, especially if she'd been in heat. Again. But a baby? She was going to have another man's baby! And Alec's, at that.

He couldn't handle it.

A beeping sound brought him out of his reverie.

*Good!*

This was the important part of his life. It was all he had left.

He touched a few buttons on his console, sat up straight and started talking to the camera.


"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is an Eyes Only streaming freedom video bulletin..."

"Showtime, Gentlemen." White said. "Don't lose him this time."


They'd been sitting in silence for a long time. Their breathing was back to normal.

A truck horn sounded outside and made them both lift their heads and tear their eyes from the very interesting trails of dust on the floor.

Biggs stood up in a fluid movement and tried to wipe the dust from the back of his pants and shirt. "Damn! These were fresh out of the store! Now I have to go steal some more!" He shook his head.

"Well, you can always get a job, you know?"

"Yeah, right. And what should I do? Deliver packages?" He laughed ironically, with a bitter undertone.

"Why not?" Alec answered, looking up at him. The laughter died on Biggs' lips as he tried to assess what his friend was saying. "You'll get some money," Alec continued, "But best of all, you get Sector passes and a good cover. You're going to need all that if you're going to stick around." He shrugged, trying to sound detached.

Biggs felt the knot in his gut begin to loosen. "You'd be all right with that." It wasn't exactly a question.

Alec stared at him. After a pause he said. "Yeah, I will."

Biggs looked down but started to say. "You understand I can't leave my son..-"

"Daughter." Alec interrupted.

"Huh?" Biggs looked up, surprised.

"It's a girl." Alec raised his eyebrows defiantly, the beginnings of a smile twisting the corners of his lips.

Biggs' smile wasn't hesitant. It brightened his features. "Fine." He continued. "I can't leave my child...-"

"Our child." Alec cut in again. This time he wasn't smiling. Not at all.

Biggs looked at him, and after nodding to himself a couple of times, he gave his friend a half smile and said: "Our child."

Alec used his right arm to support his weight on the pillar behind him and got up. He smiled at Biggs, a real smile this time, and took a step forward. "It's good to see you."

The other corner of Biggs' mouth joined the first in an elated grin. He opened his arms, imitating Alec's gesture. "You too, man," he said as they came together in a rough embrace and pounded each other on the back.


"… And so the threat continues to…"

Logan's voice faltered as he looked at the warning scrolling across one of his screens.

The words "Broadcast security compromised! Unauthorized threat detected…" shone before his eyes.


"Got him." One of the men behind the computers said.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" White answered, smiling.


Logan turned back to the camera.

"All right, people, this is the last you're going to hear from me for a while. Stay strong in the struggle. Peace. Out."

He rose from his chair and started deleting files from his computer.

On second thought, he grabbed the main hard drive and his backup disks and headed for the door. A good hacker could retrieve his data back from the computer, even after it was deleted. But not if they didn't have said computer.

He turned back at the last minute, grabbed all the papers he had in his safe and headed for the kitchen.


Alec's pained grunt broke them apart. His left hand went to his side and he winced.

"Oh, man, sorry, I forgot!" Biggs said immediately, lifting his friend's right arm to put it over his own shoulders, lending him support.

Alec shook his head with amusement. "Yeah. Now you're sorry. You seemed to remember where I was hurt without a problem a few minutes ago…" he raised his eyebrow.

"Hey! You can't hold that against me! I had a great teacher." Biggs replied, his eyes shining with laughter.

"Well, next time I see him, remind me to break his nose."

"No problem." Biggs nodded seriously, and then added, "Just make sure you let me know next time you shave."

"Wise-ass." Alec laughed softly, so as not to move his ribcage too much.

"Again, I learned from the best." He started to snicker as he quickly let go of Alec to move aside.

The elbow missed him by less than a millimeter.


As the door opened, everyone in the room turned to stare. Various expressions, ranging from concern to fear, from expectation to mere curiosity, transformed into open mouths as the two transgenics came through it, laughing.

Alec was walking a little awkwardly and Biggs' face was turning into a multicolored mask – the X5 healing process accelerating the changes -, and yet, looking at their attitudes, no one would have guessed they'd been fighting. They were both grinning and as they came down the stairs they seemed confident and very much at ease with each other.

As he passed by Ralph, Alec ruffled her hair and winked at her. "Thanks, kiddo."

She smiled back at him, relief mixing with admiration in her look.

"Yeah… not bad for a fourteen year old!" Biggs said with a startled grin as he came down the steps behind Alec.

"Fifteen!" Ralph retorted indignantly.

Alec glanced from one to the other and looked interrogatory.

"He's the one that drove me to Seattle, s..- Alec. And the one who got me the address from the license plate number."

"Oh, great! So that's another thing I have to thank you for, huh?" His tone was sarcastic, but the mirth in his eyes was unmistakable.

"I guess." Biggs shrugged, smiling.

"What is this? A party? Bip-bip-bip, people."

Alec turned to look at Normal, as the rest of the Jam Pony employees hurried back to whatever it was they were supposed to be doing.

"Hey, boss." He shot Normal his most charming smile. " I want you to meet somebody. This is my friend Biggs. He's uh…"

"I've met him." Normal said dismissively. "But what the hell did you think you were do..- Wow! What happened to you?" he asked as he noticed the shape Biggs' face was in.

"You see, we were … uh…"

".. training." Biggs interceded. "I wanted to get right to it." He continued, after winking at Alec's puzzled face.

"Are you all right?" Normal asked.

"Oh, it was my fault." Alec said. "I got carried away and…"

".. you know how good he is." Biggs finished for him.

Normal smiled proudly, glancing at Alec. "Yes, he is the best I have ever seen." He turned to look at Biggs, poking the dark haired guy's chest with his finger. "You should be more careful, mister. Raw power such as his is not easy to control."

Biggs coughed and said, "Yes, sir. I'll be more careful in the future." He was trying his best not to laugh.

Alec took the chance he was offered. "You know, boss… Biggs here wants to start real training, but it's kinda hard, because he just got into town, and he can't stay unless he's got a job…" he carried of, and then, as if the idea had just occurred to him, "Hey! There wouldn't happen to be any openings here at Jam Pony now, would there?" He looked at his boss hopefully.

Normal wiped the sweat off of his forehead and said, "Of course, of course. I think there was one…" he actually blushed at Alec's bright, approving smile. "Come, boy. Follow me. I'll give you a form and …" he continued to talk as he walked into the office.

Biggs turned long enough to wriggle his eyebrows at Alec.

Alec rolled his eyes and chuckled.


A soft tapping in his arm made him turn around. The smile was still on his lips, and it brightened up when he saw who was standing behind him. But it was a short-lived gesture.

"Glad someone is havin' fun!" she said, raising her eyebrows and sticking her tongue in her cheek.

Even as the smile vanished from his face, he turned to look around.

"She ain't here, boo."

He looked back into her eyes. "She left." It was not a question.

"Well, yeah, boo. She did. Right after the two of you went off at the mouth about you taking care o'your friend's 'business'…" She looked at him out of eyes filled with disapproval.

He closed his eyes. "Shit!" His voice was barely a whisper.

"You can say that again, suga'!"

He ran his hand through his hair.

"I know you big, bad boys need to act all brave an' proud and all, but seriously!" She shook her head. "How would you feel if someone said they was with ya to help out a friend?"

"You know I didn't…" He didn't finish.

"I know, Boo." She had a hard time keeping the condemning edge in her voice. Alec had a way of getting to her that was remarkable. Especially since he was a man. "But I ain't the one that matters."

He nodded. "Where do you think..?"

"Beats me! She could be anywhere. You know m'girl's got this thing for runnin'.."

She said sadly.

"I'll go find her."

She couldn't keep the warmth from showing in her eyes. She wasn't sure why, but he always managed to creep into her heart, ever since she'd first met him. Even despite Max's protestations to the contrary, she had liked him. True, he was irritating at times. But he was also very troubled. He had a dark past, and he tried his best not to let it affect the people around him. OC respected that.

"You do that, Alec," she said softly.


The young woman stood in the 'at ease' pose that only soldiers considered relaxed. Her feet were exactly twelve inches apart from each other, her hands were laced together at her back, her chin was held up high and her features were devoid of emotion.

She was tall, but not so much so that it would attract excessive attention to her. Her eyes were the color of smoke and her hair was gray, or at least it looked that way. The black and silver strands formed an indistinguishable maze.

When she talked she only moved the necessary muscles. The rest of her face remained impassive.

Her tone carried no emotion; it was simply stating a fact. "It's a lie." Her voice was cold, steely. It harmonized with the rest of her.

The man sitting in front of her laughed softly. "Don't you think that is a somehow far fetched conclusion? Yes, she hasn't called back. But that doesn't mean she's lying. Maybe she still didn't find her. She just said she was making progress."

The woman only shook her head. "That is not what I was referring to. She was lying before. About him."

"How do you know that?"

"She said she'd never seen him before. That is not possible."

"Maybe sh..-"

"No, sir. No maybes. She lied."

The man remained silent for a while, and then asked, "Why would she lie about that?"

"I don't know why, sir. But she did."


Ralph watched Alec out of the corner of her eyes. She had seen the way his demeanor had changed once he had started talking to that girl.

She was sure it had to do with Max.

She had really admired Max when they'd first met. Max seemed so independent, so strong, so sure of herself, of what was right and wrong.

All Ralph and the others had thought about when they decided to go back to Seattle was finding them. Max and 49- Alec. They had known everything would be okay once they found them. It had been the same after she'd got out of that freezing water. Finding them was all she could think about. They'd make everything all right.

But now she was so confused. Why was Max acting like this? First, at that building, she had left, leaving Alec behind. Why would she do that? And later, she had been so strange. She had just run out.

And even worse, Ralph was sure it was Max the men had fought over. She had been really scared. And she didn't understand what was going on. It had been obvious they were going to come to blows. Why hadn't Max stopped them? Didn't she realize what could happen? X5s were very good fighters. And they fought to kill.

Ralph had been really relieved to see them both come out of that place smiling.

But now Alec was frowning again.

Perhaps she could talk to Biggs later, maybe he would be able to explain it to her, because right now Ralph was having a really hard time trying not to hate Max. She never questioned why that feeling didn't extend to Alec. He could do no wrong.

Startled, she turned back to look at the guy talking to her- Skippy, Skeety? Sketchy! That was it – and seeing he was expecting an answer from her, she asked very sweetly, the way Fixit had taught her once, when they were discussing Ralph's tendency to impatience: "I'm sorry, could you please repeat that for me?"


Biggs left the office smiling. "So… Golden Boy… wanna show me the place?" The amusement was unmistakable in his voice and in the way he emphasized Normal's favorite name for him.

Alec, however didn't rise to the bait.

"Hey, Biggs, come here. Have you met Cindy?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I've had the pleasure." He said smiling charmingly to OC.

"What? They taught you guys flirting back at Manticore?"

"Uh…" He looked at Alec.

"She's cool."

"Oh! Then yes, they did." He said, smiling brightly.

"Don't waste it on me." Original Cindy just shook her curls and moved away.

"What did I do now?" Biggs asked Alec, frowning.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you about it later. Listen, Biggs, you think you can get the hang of the job by yourself? Cause I have something to do."

"Oh, gee, Alec, I don't know... This is such a complicated job…"

Alec took the sarcasm in, raising his hand as an apology. "Okay, okay, I need another favor from you."

"What can I do for you?"

"I need you to get some answers from her." He pointed his head at the blonde still standing by the stairs, with Sketchy hovering around her.

Biggs groaned. "No, please, not Ralph." He pleaded.

Alec smirked. "Those big, pretty eyes give you a hard time?" Biggs just nodded. "Sorry, man." Alec said understandingly, but continued straight back to business. He told Biggs what he knew so far. "She told me how she escaped, but there's something missing. Where did you find her?" Biggs told him, briefly. "See? I mean, she told me she was lost, but.. I need you to tell me how she got to where you found her." He looked at Biggs, and he nodded.

"Don't worry, I'll get it out of her."

Alec gave him a half smile and turned to leave. He was stopped by Biggs' hand on his arm. "Wait, where are you going?" When Alec just raised an eyebrow at him, he said. "Hey, if you leave me with all the work, the least you can do is tell me why."

"I have to go find Max."

"Oh, great! So Biggs has to stay here, while you go looking for a girl! Typical!" He said, with a playful tone. One he regretted immediately as his friend raised his eyes to look at him.

"I need to find her." Was all Alec said.

Biggs couldn't remember the last time he'd seen him show so much emotion. It was only for an instant, but Biggs had seen the turmoil behind the hazel pools that were his friend's eyes. Yes, Alec's mask would go away some times, but only to show what he wanted to. Like anger, or that icy glare he sometimes shot people. Even when he was happy, there was always something unreachable about his gaze. But this? He couldn't begin to imagine what Alec was going through. And it scared him. He didn't know this Alec.

None of Biggs' thoughts showed on his face. He too was well trained in hiding his emotions. Instead, he said simply, "No problem. I'll take care of everything."

"Thanks."


The men entered the apartment all at once. They spread to cover the different rooms. White and Otto walked straight to the computers in the den, as the rest of the men were yelling 'clear' around them.

One quick look assured White the main computer was gone. He started rummaging for any leftover information, but to no avail. He moved to the kitchen, where he saw the big pile of ashes in the sink. He roared in frustration, taking his gun out and shooting at the sink, the refrigerator, the microwave… Otto had to dodge to avoid getting hit.

The rest of the men took their cue and started shooting, destroying everything around them.


"Maybe I should go there myself."

"With all due respect sir, that's a negative. You've already exposed yourself far more than you should have."

"You worry too much."

"No, sir, I don't. I never worry. I analyze the situation."

He chuckled at that. "Right now, he's too busy chasing his own tail. As much as he likes to protest otherwise, he always lets emotions cloud his judgment. Look at what he's doing right now."

"That is his weakness, and it's for us to take advantage of. But we mustn't imitate him."

He smiled proudly at her. "As usual, Nicole, you are right. So what do you suggest?"