A/N: Thank you Infie for the beta-ing and title (as usual). And thanks to all for reading. (I really don't mind reviews ;) ).

Tough Call

Guarded

"This will just be a minute." Biggs told her as he stepped out of his sports car, the same one he had driven to Seattle. He had initially planned to ditch it today. The slight change of plans and his oncoming assignment had made him decide to keep it for another day.

His eyes swept his surroundings professionally, taking in the fence, the abandoned cars, the decrepit construction. He watched Nicole do the same and mentally nodded his appreciation. She would do. At least for the time being.

"Aw, so nice of you to walk me in!" He tossed at her sarcastically when she followed him into the building. She just nodded. *Oh, the fun!* Well, at least he was not the one that had to be stuck with her for company. He smirked slightly.

He eyed the bare walls as they climbed the steps three at a time. The place was as bad on the inside as it looked on the outside. He frowned as he approached the front door, trying to put the thoughts of why he had never seen this side of the building before aside.

He knocked and took a step back. His mind registered the fact that Nicole had positioned herself two steps behind and to his left, where he wouldn't be blocking her view of – and more importantly, a potential clear shot at – the person that came to open the door. He changed his weight to his other leg and had to suppress an appreciative grin as she moved, almost imperceptibly, to adjust to his new position. Oh, yeah, she would definitely do.

He heard the soft padding of bare feet on the other side of the door. He braced himself for the frowning face he knew was going to be his 'welcome'.

"What do you want here?" She didn't disappoint him.

"Good morning to you too." He answered. She refused to back down or feel bad in any way. He hadn't expected her to. "I need to see Ralph."

"And I need a nice, long soak in a Jacuzzi. Doesn't mean I'm gettin' one."

He forced himself to remain calm. " Alec explained to me what is going on. I understand how you feel about me. I know I can't change that, I'm sorry. I'm also not going to go away and we are going to work together. Can we at least try to be civil?" He looked at her, trying to tone down his natural arrogance. He hoped he had succeeded, at least a little bit.

"And why should we?"

"Look, it's not like I meant for things to be this way." He was about to lose it again. The woman was impossible.

"No." She looked at him out of disdainful eyes. "You just couldn't keep it in your pants, that's all."

"Well, yeah. That pretty much sums it up." He shrugged.

"Ugh! You are such a pig!"

He cursed under his breath, before turning cold eyes Nicole's direction. "There's an X6 in that room over there," - he remembered that room really well – "could you please wake her up and tell her I need her to come with me?" When he saw she was about to ask something, he added: "Trip out of town. She'll be back today." Nicole nodded and went past OC towards the bedroom door. A small part of his mind deviated into wishing all women were soldiers. At least you knew what to expect from them. Well, most of the time.

He grabbed OC's arm, gently but firmly, and drew her into the corridor outside. He closed the door and silently counted to ten before starting to speak in a soft voice he knew even Nicole's X5 hearing wouldn't be able to catch.

"You ever seen how male cats act when there's a female in heat around?" he continued without waiting for an answer. "Well, us X5 males all have feline DNA. Some of us more, some of us less, but we all have some." He watched her eyes grow wide. "I'm not saying we are animals. We are not. We could eventually control it. It takes a lot of will power, but we can." OC squirmed a little. "I should have. But I'd been told they weren't together and I.." he shrugged, "I just didn't fight it. You want me to say I'm sorry? Fine. I'll say it. Again. But it doesn't change a thing." His eyes became even colder. "You think I enjoy knowing I'm the cause of all this mess? I don't." His eyes bore into hers. "You are mad at me cause I hurt your friends. How do you think *I* feel about it? Alec is not just my friend, he's my only friend." The anger was barely concealed in his voice, anger at himself. "So you want to be mad at me? Fine. Just make sure Alec doesn't see it, or hear about it. The last thing he needs is to be worrying about us not getting along." With that, he turned and walked back into the apartment, leaving a stunned OC staring after him.

He had no idea how scary he had looked. Or how he had seemed to get taller as he spoke. Or how much that vacant look in his eyes had reminded OC of Alec.

Max watched Alec pacing up and down the back entrance of Jam Pony. He kept glancing at his watch over and over again.

He had come to pick her up earlier this morning. It had been a little awkward at first, but he had seemed preoccupied with other things. He had filled her in on his thoughts on the whole mysterious symbols and then talked a little with Joshua, who had immediately agreed they must be a message from Father. Of course, Joshua had no doubt Sandeman was one of the good guys. Alec hadn't seemed convinced.

Max had been torn. On one side, she really wanted to trust Joshua's instincts. On the other, however, she could understand Alec's caution. They had both been trained not to trust anyone, not to take anything at face value.

He raised his eyes and briefly smiled at her. A fleeting smile, meant to reassure her. It only made her feel more uneasy. The fact that he thought he needed to provide comfort made her all the more ill at ease.

She watched him suddenly nod before he signaled for her to join him. They both stepped out together and went to meet a group of people getting out of a black sports car.

She watched, amazed at how Alec's demeanor changed. He became his usual charming playful self, his eyes sparkling with barely concealed laughter, the lips almost begging to curve into his trademark smirk, his shoulders loose. She shook her head. How had she never seen it before? The big 'transformation'. And the funny part was that she could tell it wasn't an act. He was still worried, she could recognize that behind the mirth in his eyes. But the smart aleck, happy person was also there. When she had started to see the darker side of him, she had thought of the carefree-guy-mask as a defense mechanism. She still thought it was on some level. But it was also a part of his personality. He was just like that. It was a remarkable gift, that ability to make others feel better, without letting them see what was going on inside him.

She suddenly realized he hadn't done that when it was just her. He had not felt the need to hide his worry from her. What did that mean?

The sound of the happy voices around distracted her from her deliberations. She automatically smiled too as she saw Cindy come to greet her.

"Hey, girl! Miss ya already!" she said.

OC smiled. "Yeah, me too. Even when this little baby Manticorean been keeping Original Cindy company." she said, looking at Ralph, who smiled timidly in return.

Max's smile grew brighter. "Ralph!" She approached the blonde, seeing her uncertain glance. "I am so sorry I didn't see you yesterday! I had a… weird day, you know? But I am really happy to see you." The younger girl hesitated, then appeared to make a decision and hugged Max back.

"Yeah. It's good to see you too."

Max was about to ask her about the others when she saw Alec shake his head behind Ralph's back. Her eyebrows drew together, but she didn't say anything.

They all turned as they heard the sound of the trunk of the car being closed, to watch Biggs and a gray haired woman walk around it. She had a small bag in her hands.

"Well, hello..." Alec drawled, shooting the woman an appreciative once over. She was a hottie.

"Exactly my reaction, suga'," OC mumbled playfully, which earned her a beaming grin.

The woman in question remained standing still, her eyes fixed on Alec. She looked deadly serious.

Biggs walked around her. "Guys, this is Nicole. Nicole, this is Max, and this is..-"

"494." She finished for him.

"I go by Alec now." He frowned a little, shaking her hand. "Do we know each other?"

"No." She said, her eyes not betraying any emotion. Who the hell was this woman? Suddenly she turned to Max and extended her hand. "Nicole." She said.

"Max. Are you X5?"

"I am."

"Oh." Max looked at Alec, without knowing what else to say. He shrugged.

"Listen, Ralph, why don't you go wait for me in the car? I'll be right with you." Biggs broke the awkward silence. Ralph didn't seem to like the idea too much, but she obeyed.

"I'll go on inside." OC supplied, before walking in.

"Has Biggs told you what we need?" Alec asked. She shook her head. "Have you ever been in the field?"

"Yes."

Seeing she didn't seem about to give any more information, he asked, "What was your specialty?"

"S&P." He exchanged a fleeting look with Biggs, who just raised his shoulders but mouthed 'She is a real pro'. Alec mentally raised an eyebrow. That good, huh? It was the highest compliment Biggs could give anyone. "I'm also very good with electronics and computers. I am a hand to hand expert, too."

"All right, Nicole. Max here has suddenly become very important. And I mean very, very important."

"I understand."

Alec watched Max's confused look. Oh, yeah, she was going to kick his ass for this one.

"Can you do it?"

"Yes." was the woman's only answer. Her eyes never left his and he studied them for a few seconds.

"Very well. She works as a messenger here, which means she's on the street all day. We are going to have to get you a job here as well." He stopped, rolling his shoulders. "Give me a second and I'll come up with something to tell the boss..."

"Which one is he?" Nicole asked.

"Huh? Blond guy with the spectacles and the pencil behind his ear."

"I'll handle it." she said, and walked inside.

They all followed her with their eyes. Max suddenly remembered where her voice was. "All right, what the hell is going on? What is it you want her to do? And how the hell did she understand so quickly? You didn't say anything!"

"I said it was you." Alec declared with a sheepish smile. When she glared at him, he sighed. "Remember what she said her specialty was?"

"Yeah, hand to hand, and computers. Oh, and some S&B or whatever." She answered.

"S&P, Max." Alec corrected her. "As in Security and Protection." He took a deep breath before continuing. "She's a bodyguard, Max."

"A… what?" Biggs smiled as he remembered how the much smaller woman had tried to physically threaten his friend, who had been looking anywhere but at her. She had then stomped inside. They had looked at each other and burst out laughing. The look on her face had been priceless.

Still, they had immediately turned serious, as more pressing matters overtook their thoughts.

Alec had looked at him questioningly.

"Yep, news to me too." He had answered honestly. "She was the only X5. You want me to see if I can find someone else?"

"No. It's okay." Biggs had raised an eyebrow at him. Alec had clarified, "There is something off about her. But she was assigned a mission. She will carry it out." Biggs had immediately understood. Whatever she was, she was definitely a soldier. It was one thing they both knew how to recognize.

So he was now on his way out of town again. When they had all escaped from Manticore, he had pictured himself in a convertible, driving along deserted roads. Yet, somehow, it being constantly in and out of the same city had never been part of his daydreams. Traveling with a kid had never been a part of it either. Sure, she was beautiful, but she was also just a child.

They drove for at least three hours before they pulled into a dirt road that went up the mountains. Good thing he had no intention of keeping the car. He had a feeling the suspension was never going to be the same.

"Where are we going?" Ralph finally asked. She had been chatting the whole trip. Telling him about the apartment and how fun OC was, and that she had taken a bath - a bath!, and that Cindy had given her new clothes -didn't Biggs like them?. And then it had been about Joshua. Wasn't he cool? He looked like a dog, but he was super-nice, and spoke kind of weird, he had made her dinner, and had the most amazing paintings... It had gone on and on. Biggs had enjoyed her continuous prattle. But she appeared to have run out of things to say.

"We are going to see someone that may have some information Alec needs."

Her eyes opened wide. "He's sending me on a mission?? Me?"

Biggs laughed. "Find that surprising?"

"Well, yes. I mean, even after all I've done?" She looked down, her cheeks turning pink.

"Yup." He answered, then added: "He's not sending you alone." It was a joke as well as a warning.

She nodded, serious. She understood. "So, what am I supposed to do?"

Biggs smiled, proud of her. "Okay, here's the deal..."

"So... ladies, everything settled?" Alec asked, smiling. It earned him an empty look and a nod from Nicole, a half smile from Cindy and a glare from Max, who pushed him into a corner where the others couldn't hear them.

"How could you do this? How could you set this up without telling me about it?"

"Well, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing. And to answer the second question: You would have said no."

"Damn right I would have!" She spat back. She was seething. "You think I can't take care of myself?"

"Look Max, something really strange is going on. Apparently you are the center of it. I don't want to take any chances. Besides, it's not just you that you have to worry about now."

She glowered at him. "That is so low."

"It's still true."

"Listen to me, pal. I am through with you, or anyone else, making decisions for me."

"Max, I..-"

"No! I've had it!" She poked his chest with her finger, making him step backwards, until he collided with the wall. "I know you have the best intentions. But I am not a child. And I will not be treated as one. Not anymore. Is that clear?" All the furious temper was back. She was the spirited, tough girl he'd met back at Manticore.

He just nodded.

"Good." She said. She was turning around when his 'Max' stopped her. "What?"

"I understand. And you are right. Should have told you." He paused and looked at her straight in the eyes. His own gaze was completely serious. "But I will not promise it's not going to happen again. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you and our baby safe. I am going to try to tell you things first. You have my word on that."

They stared into one another's eyes, until she finally said. "Well, at least you are not lying to me." She sighed heavily. "Fine. As long as you tell me things, I am going to try to listen to them. But I won't promise you that I will go along with anything I don't like, or that I won't fight you every step of the way if that is how things go."

He let his lips curve into a hint of a smile. "I never expected less from you."

"Long as we understand each other." She gave him half a smile.

He chuckled. "Well, what about miss sympathy over there?" He tilted his head.

"What about her?"

"I just think it can't hurt to have her around, you know, extra couple of eyes and all."

"Oh, you mean seeing as I am pregnant, hated by humans, hunted by a government agency nobody's heard from and by some lunatics with seriously disgusting tendencies, and now apparently also some kind of message?" She shook her head, a sad smile on her lips.

"Er.. yeah."

"Well, I suppose I can deal with having her around. I mean, she can't be worse than that first day with you. At least she's quiet." She said defiantly.

He laughed, shaking his head. As proud and stubborn as she was, she had also been trained. She knew what had to be done.

Very well, he could also start to keep his promise.

"Yeah, listen, about Nicole. Biggs and I have never heard that Manticore did S&P. Yes, we had some training on it, but only so we'd know how they thought, how to get around them to... well, you get the drift."

"I do. So you think she was lying?"

"No."

"Yeah, me neither. She didn't know what the mission was before, right?" After his silent confirmation, she continued, "And she had to know you would find it odd. So why even bring it up? She could have just said electronics and hand to hand. Besides, she doesn't look like the type who would go through the trouble of lying."

"Exactly. That's what puzzles me." He nodded. "Makes no sense at all."

"You think she is dangerous?"

"I don't think so. At least not for you. She accepted the mission. I saw it in her eyes. She understands what that entitles. She'll protect you with her life."

"Okay." Max nodded. "I'll keep my eyes open anyway."

"Good girl." He smiled. A smile that turned a little sheepish as he added. "You know what? This wasn't so hard. Talking with you, that is."

"Well, maybe you just caught me off guard." She winked at him and then tossed her hair over her shoulder as she twirled around to go join OC and Nicole.

He smiled as he looked at her retreating back. It hadn't been hard at all. He definitely underestimated her sometimes. She was really smart, it was hard to get anything past her when she was thinking clearly and listening.

Biggs took a thorough look around before stepping out of the car. They were in front of a small wooden house in the middle of some mountains. He motioned for Ralph to join him and walked to the front door, the only door by the looks of it. He knocked on it once and then stepped back so that he would be visible from either of the two windows.

He heard low shuffling sounds on the inside of the cabin, but no one came to the door. He waited a few seconds before knocking again, this time more forcefully. Ralph eyed him, but didn't say a thing. When there was still no answer he took a deep breath and said in a loud voice: "I know you are in there, ma'am. Please come out." He waited a few seconds. "I know you are 35 years old. I know you go by the name of Mrs. Dean and that you cash the occasional cheque under that name in the bank in town. I know you have a little boy with you who is not really yours. And I know your real name is Priscilla Olsen."

A trembling voice came from behind the blinds on the window to their left, the one Biggs had been talking towards. "Who are you? What do you want?" She tried to sound angry.

"Listen ma'am, I found you through Eyes Only. I know you are in hiding, and you're smart not to trust anyone. But believe me, if I found you, your ex-brother in law will too, sooner or later." He raised his hands in front of him. "You know what he is, right? You know what he and his people can do. You must know we could burst in there without a problem if we were with them, right? You also know we would have no qualms about doing it, either. You know what he did." His voice was firm and reasonable. "Please, ma'am, just open up. We only need a few minutes."

"Go away." The voice sounded even shakier now.

Biggs looked at Ralph and then at the door. He continued to talk while the X6 started working on the lock. She finished in a couple of seconds, but then looked up at him mouthing the word 'bar'. He showed no change on his expression, but made a twirling movement with his finger behind his back. She nodded and moved to go around the house. All the while, he kept trying to reason with the woman. He briefly reflected on the fact that he could be extremely patient when he was trying to accomplish something. He would have smirked mockingly at himself, except that would not look good to the woman gazing out the blinds at him. So he just continued to look serious and talk away, buying Ralph some time.

Ralph found a small window in the back that clearly belonged to a bathroom. She reached out and silently pried it open. It wasn't hard. She slid in, letting herself fall soundlessly into an old-fashioned bathtub. As she carefully opened the curtain around it, she wondered why on earth there was a bathtub in this shabby cabin. Her musings were interrupted when she found herself dodging a frying pan directed at her head. She didn't manage to avoid it completely, though; it hit the back of her left shoulder. Her hand shot back, she caught the pan before it could be retrieved by her attacker. She yanked hard, bracing herself to take the weight of the aggressor on her back. She planned to use that weight as leverage to throw whoever it was against one of the walls. As she felt the impact, however, she completely reversed her move, turning around to get a hold of the light body, placing her free hand against his mouth. She found herself staring into a pair of beautiful and scared eyes. She saw the kid try to hide his fear and struggle to free himself. Biggs had warned her, and yet she was surprised at the strength she had to use to maintain her grip on him.

"Hello, Ray." She said in a really low voice, flashing him a cocky smile. "Mind if we have a little chat?"

Ray blinked twice. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He hated to admit it, but she was even prettier than his mom, which was, according to his standards, as good-looking as anyone could get. She was also strong. She was holding him in place with only one arm with the other one covering his mouth, and she was smiling as if that was no big deal. He didn't want to brag, cause that was wrong, his mommy had told him that and so had his aunt later, but he was really strong. Not as strong as his father, of course, cause he was the strongest man in the world. Still, he could help his aunt lift things, and sometimes even carry stuff she couldn't. But this girl could restrain him. He immediately understood. She was one of them.

He had been really confused when he'd woken up in that strange place. The last thing he remembered was that he had been put through the test. And yet there he had been, surrounded by strangers. They had looked nice, but he didn't understand, why wasn't he back at the school? Where were the others? Where was his dad? He had been afraid he had messed up, that they had sent him away because he wasn't strong enough. But he had passed. He had the scar. And the lady had said so too. So maybe he had been sent here with his aunt for another purpose. He had tried to figure out what that could be, but as much as he had tried, nothing made sense to him. It all made his head ache.

So he had decided he was going to wait. Someone would eventually come pick him up.

And it looked like they were here.

He nodded his head, his eyes staring into hers, until she carefully removed her hand. She didn't move it far, though.

"I am ready." He said, trying to look tough.

She did her best to hide her surprise. He obviously thought she was supposed to be here. His words indicated he had been expecting someone. Well, she could adjust to that. "Good." She said, nodding seriously. "Your aunt doesn't seem convinced, we will have to go quietly."

"She doesn't understand. Just like my mom." He said with a trace of sadness.

Ralph just looked at him and then motioned for the window. The sound of Biggs' voice could still be heard coming from the front of the house as they quickly exited through the small window. She placed a finger over her lips, as they walked back around the house. She made a small movement of her arm, which immediately caught Biggs' attention. She tilted her head to the side, where Ray was standing at her side. She placed a hand on the little boy's shoulder while Biggs turned as if to leave, only to spin back abruptly and charge towards the door. The old wood immediately gave way to the force of the hit, splintering. The block behind it resisted a little bit more. But it broke at the second strike.

Biggs blurred inside and in one fluid motion took the bat out of Priscilla's hand and spun her around, both hands trapped in one of his own at her back. "I'm sorry it had to come to this." He said as he carefully pressed his forearm against her windpipe. As he felt her body go lax in his arms, he gently lifted her and carried her to one of the beds in the room, where he set her down. He looked down at her one last time before heading for the door to motion Ralph and the little kid in.