A/N: My thanks, as usual, go to Infie for checking this out for me :). And to all the people who read this and especially those of you who review. (Sorry this took so long.)

Tough Call The Low Down

Biggs watched him as he moved away, awkwardly trying to put his jacket back on. His face was intent, not showing the pain that the damaged rib had to be causing him. There was the soldier he knew. The... "Shit!" he muttered, and then louder, "Alec!" He trotted to catch up to him.

"Not now, Biggs."

"Yes, now, Alec. I have to tell you something."

"I know, but it can wait."

"No it can't. You... Wait a minute. What do you mean, 'you know'?"

Alec looked at him. "Well, you came back," he said simply.

Biggs shook his head, smiling. He put his hand on Alec's shoulder to prevent him from leaving. "Just be careful, all right? Someone is on to you."

Alec stopped. "Who?"

"I overheard some guys in a museum in Salem. They said they'd be looking for you when you went to sell what you stole."

"Don't worry, I'm not selling it anymore. Besides," he looked at Biggs pointedly. "You think I'd be stupid enough to get caught on a deal? I had it covered, my man."

Biggs rolled his eyes. "I knew you would. But that's not the bad part. This people were really strange, Alec. Creepy. They called themselves Familiars and they had a picture of you."

"Ah! My very good friend Ames." He patted Biggs on the shoulder. "It's okay. They've known about me for a long time." He smirked, "I'm just not that easy to get rid of." He winked at his friend. "Listen, thanks for the warning. I'll tell you all about these Familiars later, okay? I have to go now. I...-" He was interrupted by Biggs.

"I don't think you have to go. Not anymore."

Alec didn't need the heads up. He had sensed the exact minute she had walked in. He turned to look at her and his heart dropped.

She'd never looked more beautiful. Or more unreachable.

Max walked down the ramp and said cheerfully, "Any new packages for me, Normal? I'll be right with ya." She continued her way.

"Max." Alec called her softly as she passed by them.

She turned her head to look at him. Her eyes were cold and distant. "Oh, Alec, sorry, didn't see you," she said in the irritating clipped voice he hated so much. She tilted her head to the side. "Oh! And look who is here too! Biggs, wasn't it?" Biggs only nodded, watching her warily. "Well, great to see you both, gentlemen, " she said with the falsest smile Alec had ever seen. It hurt just looking at it. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" She turned and continued her way to the lockers.

"Wait, Max, I need to talk to you." He followed her.

"Oh, do you?" She replied, her voice dripping sarcasm. "Funny. Are you sure you want to talk to me, instead of over me?"

"Look, I know. I should have told you." He ran a hand through his hair, "I just…" he hesitated.

"You just… what?" she raised her eyebrows. "No, wait, let me guess. You thought it would be awkward for me and wanted to spare my feelings?"

He opened his mouth but closed it again. He wished he could say yes, but he didn't want to lie to her, at least as long as he could avoid it. But how could he explain to her that he hadn't said anything because Biggs was his best friend and he had been gone. That he had been torn apart at the thought of never seeing him again, but at the same time was happy that Biggs wasn't around her anymore. How guilty he had felt. In the end, it was all about him. He hadn't really thought of her, at least not that way.

Max watched him say nothing out of disdainful eyes. She nodded, smirking scornfully. "Yeah, I didn't think so." She turned to leave again and he grabbed her by the wrist. "Look, Max, it's complicated, I…-"

She jerked her hand free in a furious movement. "Don't you dare touch me again," she hissed.

"Max, listen to me. What you heard before, I didn't mean that. It was just a problem between Biggs and me, and we used words we didn't really mean. We had a little argument, but that's over now."

"What? You finally decided which one of you would be taking care of the load? So glad you guys could work it out! I guess I should be flattered now…"

"No, Max, I didn't m-"

"Well, you'll have to excuse me, " she spoke over his words, "cause frankly, I'm not."

She turned on her heel, this time careful to move out of his reach, and walked briskly towards the exit.

He moved to follow her, but stopped. She was already in the main hall. He was not going to go chasing after her in front of everybody, just to be rejected. He told himself it was to avoid drawing any more attention to them, since he and Biggs had done enough of that today. But he knew he was not being honest with himself.

Well, and what the hell was wrong with not wanting all the ordinaries, and his friends, watch him run after Max?

He tried to silence the part of him that reminded him he'd pretty much humiliated her the same way earlier.

He clung to the thought that she had at least come back, that she had not run away. That was good, right? He had to believe that.

He watched her walk by Biggs, shooting the other X5 a brief, cold glance. She grabbed a couple of boxes from over the counter and left again.

His eyes fell on OC's surprised face. Max had looked right through her. She looked back at him, her eyes showing her worry even from across the room.

Alec nodded at her.

It was not good. Not good at all.

Biggs' eyes wandered towards his friend, who was in the back, arguing with Max. *Shit.*

He felt the guilt begin to crawl back into him. *Oh, well. It was nice to get rid of it for … what? Ten minutes?*

Not like he had really expected everything to be okay, just cause Alec had accepted having him around. He sighed.

He clung to the knowledge that he had his friend back. Even with the uneasiness that was sure to manifest itself, it felt damn nice.

He turned to see Ralph standing at his side. She was frowning. "What's up, pretty eyes?"

She flushed. No matter how hard she tried to act all grown up, in the end, she was still a kid. Biggs made a note of it. Useful information.

Max walked by them and shot Biggs an icy glare. She didn't even look at Ralph.

The X6 hesitated, but then said, "I don't understand."

He snorted. "Join the club, honey." But then he softened his tone. "That's okay. It's a complicated situation." He raised a hand. "No. I can't tell you about it. First, because it's not my place to do so, and second, cause I only know part of it."

She blew the air out of her lungs with a loud noise and then pouted. He wondered if they had taught her that at Manticore.

"So, kid, what do you say we go buy me a pair of sunglasses?" At her questioning look, he continued. "Orders from the boss. Apparently it's not fashionable to deliver packages with a yellow-green eye."

After one last glance at Alec, who was still standing where Max had left him, she shrugged and said, "Okay."

"I'm going over there, sir."

"Do you think it's a good idea?"

"We can't waste any more time."

"And you think what I did is just that, a waste of time…"

She looked straight ahead, but didn't hesitate. "I do, sir."

"But it was too good an opportunity to pass up, young lady. She knew 452. And more important, 452 knows her."

"That is all correct, sir. But if you had consulted with me first… " If he didn't know it was impossible, he would have sworn there had been the slightest inflexion in her voice. Reproach. "I could have arranged for someone to go with her, or at the very least, follow her."

"Ah!" he nodded. "Yes, yes, thinking ahead and all that. That's why you are so very valuable to me as an assistant."

She stood even straighter, but added. "I would be of much more help if you told me the problems so I can assist you in solving them."

He chuckled. "Very well. I'll try to keep that in mind."

For an instant, there was a spark in her eyes, the closest thing to a smile she ever got, and he had to do his best not to smile back. She'd only be embarrassed. Instead, he just asked, "So... When are you leaving?"

"Seventeen minutes, sir."

He nodded. "Have a good trip, Nicole."

"Yes, sir." She walked towards the door with a decided stride.

He shook his head amused. When he heard the outer door close, he said without raising his voice, "627."

The door immediately opened and a young, blonde man of pale complexion walked in. "You called, sir?"

"Just checking." He said.

627 looked at him strangely, but didn't say anything.

"So, what if I asked you for a coffee?"

"I'll get 256 to bring it sir."

"That's ok. You can go back out."

"Yes, sir."

So he now had a 'shadow'. She learned fast.

As the door closed again he shook his head with a smile and went back to the documents before him.

"What do you think of these?" Biggs asked with a wicked smile.

Ralph looked up from the floor she'd been staring at for the past five minutes, and her eyes opened wide. "I ... uhm ... I ..."

"What? Speechless?"

"Er... yeah." She said, not able to take her eyes from his face.

"Hey! They cover my yellowish eye completely." He said, making a show of checking himself in the mirror.

"Yeah..." She nodded her agreement. "Along with half your face."

He grinned back at her but hastily took the glasses off. "Can't have that, you know. I'd never deprive all the ladies out there of my handsome features."

This time she couldn't suppress a giggle.

He took another pair that was lying a little apart from the others over the store counter and tried them on.

"Yes, those will do."

He smiled again. "Come on, pick a pair for yourself." He watched her eyes briefly sparkle, but she immediately looked down.

"I have no money."

"Don't worry, they are on me." Her eyes opened widely. "Come on, try them on."

She looked around. "Which ones?"

He shrugged. "All of them!" He watched her delighted smile as she started to gather different models and a feral glint of satisfaction shone in his eyes. He'd known it! All girls loved to shop.

He put the ones he'd chosen for himself back on and tapped her shoulder. "They cover it, right?"

"Yes, they do." Her attention went back to her own selections. "I don't know why you bother, though. It'll be gone in a few hours anyway."

"Exactly."

"Oh! I see." She looked disappointed. "I'd never think of stuff like that!"

"The years, my friend. They make us wiser." he winked. "Plus, having learned plenty of stuff the hard way." For an instant his eyes were unfocussed, but then he smiled again. "You X6s weren't sent on too many missions were you?" He asked casually.

She shook her head, her eyes not leaving her reflection in the mirror. "No, I'd never been outside of Manticore until it was burnt down." She blushed, remembering. "One of the first things we did was rob a mini-market. Not very smoothly either. That's how we ran into Alec."

"Oh?" he asked, with just enough curiosity in his voice to encourage her to continue. *That's right, honey, keep talking to ole Biggs.*

"Yeah," she smiled, "He wasn't too happy with us. Said we had ruined a deal he had going. He seemed more annoyed than angry, though. I was very surprised."

Biggs chuckled. "Not the mean, tough guy he was reputed to be, huh?" His tone was light, but his eyes behind the shades were studying her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "He tried to warn us not to go to a gathering point, but Bullet – 681- had to refuse. The orders had come from a higher authority. I thought he was going to kill us, but he just smiled and let us make our own decision. And afterwards he came to help us rescue Max. But you know what? He didn't know she'd been captured, at least not until he caught up with us, and he came anyway. For us," her bright eyes looked at him. "Even after we had disobeyed him."

"Yes, he's pretty special." She nodded, looking serious. "You keep referring to 'us'... where are these others?"

She looked down. "I don't know."

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, tell me about it." He did not feel particularly good about this assignment so far, but since when did he get to choose his missions?

She told him about going back to Seattle and escaping from the person following her. She didn't cry, but Biggs could see the moisture in her eyes, the trembling of her lips.

"But that's not when I found you, right? ... your clothes seemed pretty unharmed."

"Yeah... I was lost, didn't know where I was... I wandered around until I found this old man. Actually, I think he found me. I was sitting under a tree, all wet and exhausted and cold. I was trying not to fall asleep, but I'm not sure if I did or not... And then I saw this old man. I know I should have been wary, but somehow, I felt like I knew him. It was weird. He covered me with a blanket. He asked me what happened and after I told him, he said he would send some people to look for the others. I told him the co-ordinates where I had last seen them." She fidgeted with the sleeve of her jacket. "He gave me new clothes, and then took me to this place, don't know exactly where. He gave me food and a place to stay that night. And he knew about us. He called me by my designation. He was really nice. Only..."

Biggs' eyes narrowed. "Only?" It came out harsher than he intended.

Ralph was looking down again, but suddenly looked up at him. "I think I may have told him too much." She bit her lower lip.

"Thank you very much, ma'am." She said charmingly, a full, bright smile showing her white teeth.

The old woman looked at the slim girl in front of her. With those worn out pants and oversized tee shirt, one hand in her jacket pocket and the other loosely holding the clipboard she'd just been handed back, balanced on the balls of her feet, and the rhythmically moving jaw, no doubt by courtesy of some gum, the girl looked exactly like her twelve year old granddaughter.

"Here you go, dear." She said, handing over a few bills. "And take care, you should be at home and not working, sweetheart."

She watched the brown eyes suddenly change, looking much older. The old woman gave an involuntary little jump backwards.

"Don't worry, ma'am. I'm much stronger than I seem."

And with that she turned around and left, a satisfied smile lingering on her lips.

"He was so kind... And he started to ask me questions and I was really tired... I didn't realize until later that he was making me talk, that I was telling him a lot of stuff..."

"Kind of like you are telling me?" It was a calculated risk. He needed her to trust him. It wouldn't do if she realized this later and suddenly stopped talking.

"Yes. Exactly."

So maybe she wasn't as naive as he had thought.

"If you know this, why do you keep talking to me?"

"It's different. You are one of us."

"That doesn't mean you can trust me."

"Not based on just that. But Alec trusts you, you are his friend."

"You think we are friends just cause you saw us laughing together?"

"No. Because he didn't kill you."

Biggs opened his mouth, but closed it again. As much as he would like to protest her statement, he knew she was right. They had been furious at each other, but there was never any threat of death. And as evenly matched as they both were, Biggs would not want to find out what it was like to have Alec really wanting to kill him. He nodded at her. "So..."

She heaved a deep sigh, but plunged into it. The words rapidly stumbling out of her mouth, as if the continuous flow would make it easier. Biggs didn't utter a word. He only nodded occasionally, not wanting to interrupt her discourse.

"He asked me where I was going and why. So I told him Seattle and that I was going there to find this X5 that had helped us before. He asked how I was going to find her, and I told him about having her friend's license plate numbers. He told me I should stay with him, that maybe this X5 wouldn't be able to help me. And so I explained to him that she would help me, us, cause to her we were very important, that she was the one that had set us free, that she cared. He said he understood. He let me stay, told me I needed to rest for a few days. I was really tired, so I agreed." She paused to breathe. " But then the next day, he came to wake me up late – I had been sleeping for most of the day – and told me I had to go, that I couldn't stay there anymore. And then he drove me to this road, and we just sat there in his car. He talked the whole time. I was really confused, he had made me leave in such a hurry and now we were wasting time. I asked him about it, but he just said he couldn't drive me all the way here, but he wanted to make sure I got here okay. He made me promise I would call him as soon as I got to Seattle and then, when I found the girl, so that he wouldn't be worrying." She stopped talking for a moment and looked at Biggs. "He seemed really concerned, like he really cared." She looked back down. "I know that's not an excuse."

Biggs felt really bad for her. But his job was not done. "Go on." He whispered softly.

"After a while, his cell phone rang. I couldn't hear what the person at the other end was saying, but as he hung up he turned to me and said I should step out, that he had to go back now." She swallowed. "And just before he left, he asked me if by any chance I had run into a guy that went by the name of 'Alec'. That's when I realized I had been talking too much. Of course, I said no. And then he asked me if I knew X5-494, that he was supposed to be around Seattle. I told him I had no idea, cause I didn't know 494 so I wouldn't know. I asked him why, but he just shrugged and drove off. A- And I started to walk this way." Her voice shook a little. "And yours was the first car to pass by me, not four minutes after he left. So I… I was a little suspicious. I thought maybe he had sent you, that you were with him." She looked at him and bit her lips. "I guess it was just a coincidence."

Biggs remained thoughtful. "This guy... he was not too tall, wrinkled skin, straight nose? He used a cane?" At her surprised nod, he asked, "What was he wearing when he came to get you?"

"Uhm.. Yellow long-sleeved shirt, brown pants, brown shoes, gilded watch, and a horrible green wool vest." She answered readily.

Biggs shook his head. "Damn it!" he cursed himself. Then he looked at her. "It wasn't a coincidence. I've seen this guy before." He ran a hand through his hair. "And that phone call he got? He probably had someone posted somewhere along the road that alerted him of my approach." He tapped his fingers absently on his thigh. *Shit.* This was not good. The guy was that old man that had been at the museum, Biggs was sure of that. Which meant the guy had known what, if not exactly who, Biggs was. He didn't like that. But the scary part was he had known Biggs would go back to Seattle. Biggs refused to believe the man had read his mind. First, because he was obviously too old to be Psy Ops, and second because Biggs hadn't been thinking about going back to Seattle at the time. This could only mean one thing... the guy had known what he'd do even before Biggs himself did. He felt a shiver run through him. He put the thought away and focused on the girl before him.

"There's one more thing," she said shakily. He remained silent. "I… I c-called him."

"At the hacker's." Biggs said.

"It was the only time I was alone. But I didn't tell him anything." She added hastily. "Just that I was in Seattle and was working on finding her."

Biggs took a deep breath. "Listen, kid, I understand you not trusting me. But why didn't you tell Alec?" He took the glasses off, his eyes fixed on her face.

Her lips started to tremble and he could see the color staining her cheeks.

"I was scared." She admitted.

"Of Alec?" Biggs asked incredulously.

"Not of him." She shook her head no. "I just knew I would disappoint him."

Biggs had to fight back the urge to comfort her. He knew exactly what she meant. Alec had that effect on him too. And, Biggs suspected, a lot of others as well.

"You do understand I will have to tell him all this, don't you?" She nodded seriously. "And that he may want to ask you some questions himself?"

"Yes, I know. I'm not looking forward to it, but..." she trailed off, shrugging, trying to regain her aloofness.

"But it will be easier, cause now *I* get to tell him most of it, huh?" He watched her blush and smiled. "Don't worry, not going to hold that against you. " He winked. "I guess I would have done the same thing if I had been in your position." At her disbelieving look, he further clarified, "I meant the part about wanting to tell me instead of him. I wouldn't worry about disappointing me either," he finished with a wry grin.

"Oh! It's not that I don't... That you are not... that..."

He raised his hand for her to stop, smiling at her concerned expression. "I was just joking, kid. I know it's got nothing to do with me. It's just that Alec is... well... Alec."

He didn't need to add anything. She understood.

Logan walked in and looked around. The place was a dump. He stiffened his back. It didn't matter.

He wasn't sure whether it was the paint or just an effect of the dim light, but everything looked... green.

He placed the computer on the floor and neatly piled up all the disks on top of it. He took a handkerchief out and dusted a chair, leaving no corner of it untouched. He folded the cloth back up and put it on top of the disks.

After one final look, he nodded with satisfaction and sat on the chair, his hands resting on his knees, his back straight.

He started to shake.

Two more packages to go.

She was still riding on the surge of energy her resolution had brought with it.

She felt free. She could do anything she wanted. She didn't need any male to tell her what to do.

No more Logan to judge her. No more feeling like she had to answer to him. No more trying to hide who she was.

She knew he had probably meant well, hell, they both had probably meant well,

but she was through listening to them.

It was a great feeling.

So what if her heart still jumped at the sight of him, like it had earlier today at Jam Pony? She had still managed to say what she had to say to him and walk away.

She was tough.

She could also survive with that little ache in her heart. She would learn to ignore it and eventually it would go away.

She was sure of it.