Kris sipped the ginger ale painfully slowly that night. She was in such a strange daze as though she was outside her body, watching herself drink the ginger ale. People bustled around her towards the dance floor and all she could do was sit there, on a stool at The Crash and sip ginger ale. She should get drunk. Logan had the right idea.

No, she wouldn't let a stupid guy pull her into that endless spiral of drinking ever again. Not even Alec. Alec. Cece. Together. The thought was indescribably disgusting.

It felt like someone had pounded a fist on her chest countless times leaving an invisible bruise. She had been such a fool. No, no, this wasn't her fault. Alec was the one who messed up, it was his fault. She did all she could have done for him this past year and three months. If he wanted to cheat on her, she couldn't have done anything to stop it, but the fact that he did sleep with Cece meant that she wasn't worth his loyalty.

That was what hurt so much. She wasn't worth it to Alec when he had been worth it to her. Screw Alec, if he wanted to throw away everything they had created together for a hideous person like Cece, then fine. She wouldn't be the girl who took back a guy who cheated on her even if he begged for forgiveness.

The bartender came over, set another ginger ale in front of Kris and walked away.

"Excuse me, I didn't order this," Kris said to the bartender.

"It's on him," the bartender replied, pointing to a man a few stools down.

Kris' eyes followed the bartender's finger to a dark-haired man with a small smirk on his face. She didn't recognize him as he made his way over to her, slightly drunk.

"Hey, hope you don't think I'm being obnoxious for buying you a drink," the man said, flashing her a sweet smile. His nose was pointy and his greenish eyes has a slightly drunken sheen over them. He wasn't unattractive, but his looks could not compare to Alec's.

She couldn't believe she being hit on. Well why not tonight? At least it would get her mind off Alec and Cece and their gross sexual escapades.

"No, thank you very much," Kris said, offering him a seat next to her. She could pretend to be anyone she wanted to be with this guy and he wouldn't know the difference. For tonight, she wouldn't be the heartbroken Kris who killed her fake ex-boyfriend to save the life of her trangenetic best friend whom she loved who slept with a hideous woman after they broke up.

"I'm Hayden," the man said, extending his hand to her.

Kris hesitated. "Tammy," Kris replied politely. The name Tammy was a good place to get a fresh start.

"Not a big drinker?" Hayden asked.

"No, not really," Kris replied.

"I saw you come in and looked distracted. You fascinated me, I kept on wondering what could upset you so much, and I wanted to cheer you up," Hayden said straightforwardly.

Kris blushed slightly. "Thank you."

They made small talk for a while and flirted endlessly. It made Kris feel special, like she was worth something. In the back of her mind she knew that was she was doing was downright stupid and wouldn't solve any of her problems, but she ignored that part of her mind. She had created a whole new life in front of this guy where she was in the cosmetic industry and without a care in the world.

"Tammy," Hayden started, many drinks later. Kris had forgotten that that was the name she had given him. "I don't want to seem too forward, but I was wondering if you'd like to come back to my place," he finished.

Kris gulped. She knew this was coming. She thought about Alec momentarily, the hurt seeping into her. "Sure," she replied.

They left The Crash together and made their way back to his apartment which was only a block away. Right when Hayden closed his apartment door, he slammed Kris against the back of the door and kissed her passionately. The stench of the alcohol almost made Kris pull away, but this was distracting the pain inside her heart. Being desirable made her feel so good.

Hayden eagerly led Kris to his bedroom while kissing her. He proceeded to take off his clothes when Kris hesitated.

Kris hesitated. "Hayden, can we hold off for just a little bit?" she asked, hoping this complete stranger would respect her.

He sighed. "You are such a tease," he said.

"Makes it worth the wait."

Hayden sat down on his bed and turned on the TV. There was a repeat of the eleven o'clock news on where the anchormen was talking about another X-5 transgenetic being caught. This one, however, wasn't lynched.

"That the second one this week," Hayden said.

"Yeah," Kris replied softly.

"You know, the technology the Feds are using to catch these things isn't even that advanced," he commented arrogantly.

Kris' ears perked up. "What do you mean?"

"All they do have a device that measures body temperature. The freaks' temperature is hotter than real people."

"How…how do you know this?"

"There's plenty of info on the Web if you know where to look," Hayden replied, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.

"Are you a hacker?" Kris asked straight out.

Hayden laughed. "You're smarter than I gave you credit for." Kris would have slapped him for the apparent insult, but he was very drunk and telling her valuable information.

"So you hacked into the FBI website or something?" she asked as casually as she could.

"All over."

She bit her lip nervously. "Can…can I see what you've compiled?"

Hayden looked at her curiously. "Why are you so interested?"

She thought quickly. "I hate them. One of them I think killed my friend," she lied.

He appraised her response and apparently found it suitable. He got up slowly and stumbled into his office. CD's were piled everywhere, labeled with secrets the government didn't want to reveal. He took one of them and inserted it into his computer. Specs regarding the device the government was using popped onto the screen along with other information he had compiled about the transgenetics in general.

"Shit…" she said quietly.

"Yeah, pretty cool huh?" he asked.

She nodded dumbly. She had to make a copy of that CD. But how?

Hayden led her back into the bedroom and began kissing her neck. She smiled seductively as he slung his arms around her waist. She had to find a way to get out of there, after she made a copy of that CD or downright stole it. Perhaps when he was asleep afterwards she could sneak back into the office. She felt herself being pushed quickly down onto his bed and he fell on top of her. She froze and cursed herself for her stupidity. No matter how hard she wanted to forget Alec, she just couldn't sleep with this stranger. Now she had gotten herself in a terrible situation.

"Hayden, where's your bathroom? I have to, um, freshen up," Kris said.

Hayden looked disappointed but he answered, "Just down that hall."

"Great," Kris said, getting up. "Just lie, down, relax, okay?" she whispered, pushing him onto the bed and watching him settle down. His eyes closed.

She quickly went to the bathroom, closed the door and began panicking. She paced the small room frantically for a minute or so. After calming down, she weighed her options. She knew that the CD would be priceless to T.C., but she couldn't prostitute herself in the hopes that he would fall asleep and she could slip away with a copy. She wanted to forget about Alec, yeah, but she just couldn't go through with sleeping with a stranger. She did it once after she thought Sean died and didn't like it. So, if he pushed her into having sex with him, she would just fight him. Granted he was bigger but, she could try. Shit, what was she thinking! She was terrified. She just had to get out of there. She inhaled deeply and walked out, prepared to fight her way out if he forced himself onto her.

She was met by snores.

Hayden was sleeping like a baby on his bed, the alcohol causing him to pass out while waiting for her to come back. Thank God! She quietly slipped into his office and waited anxiously as she burned a copy of the CD, waiting to hear if Hayden woke up. He didn't. She slipped out of his apartments and ran to T.C.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No, Cece," Alec said firmly as she slid her hand underneath his shirt while they looked over some papers. He had no patience for what Cece was trying to pull.

"Alec, don't be like that. You know you like it," Cece said arrogantly with a seductive smile playing on her lips. It was the early morning after Cece had told Kris about her and Alec, though Alec had no clue that Kris knew.

Alec picked up the papers and moved to another location. Cece followed. "Goddamn it! Cece! Get it through that thick skull of yours! I don't love you, I don't even like you. What happened between us was completely meaningless. So get the hell away from me! We aren't together!"

Cece looked angry, as though she finally understood what Alec had been saying all along. She pursed her lips together and stalked away.

Alec sighed. Finally. But now that he was alone, all he thought about was that gnawing feeling between his ribs. Kris. He was such an ass. He tried to justify his actions in his head.

Cece had trapped him, he couldn't resist, he didn't have a choice. Nonetheless, he felt so bad. Could he even tell Kris? He visualized how that would play out. Hey, Kris, I have this cat DNA in me and when there's a female X-5 in heat, I can't help but bang her senseless. Oh yeah, very suave. His thoughts were broken with a bustling coming from the other side of the central room of T.C.

He looked over to see Kris coming in hurriedly with Mole behind her, equally anxious. Kris looked towards Alec, meeting his eyes momentarily before she proceeded to ignore him. Alec came over, near where Kris was as she talked to Mole and overheard their conversation.

"Mole, I need to talk to the tech here," Kris said urgently, still breathless from running over to T.C..

Mole nodded. "Luke!" he called to a pasty transgenetic.

Luke came over and looked at Mole and then Kris. "What's up, guys?"

"Hi, Luke. My name is Kris, I have some info for you," she said, handing him a CD.

"Oh! You're Kris? Alec talks about you all the time, but just don't tell him that," Luke said happily, not seeing Alec a few feet away.

Alec saw Kris smile momentarily before a dark expression streaked her face. A crowd began to gather around her and Luke.

"This is a CD that has a shit-load of information about how the Feds are catching the X-5's. They're using a sort of scanning device that measures body heat since an X-5's temperature is hotter than other people's. There's a whole bunch of other info on it, I didn't get a chance to look at it all," Kris said, wiping the sweat off her forehead.

"Wow, this is fantastic! Thank you, Kris. This is...wow!" Luke said excitedly, inserting the CD into a computer and skimming the information.

Kris smiled a bit. "I'm just glad that we found out how...how they got Biggs," she said quietly, her voice cracking with sadness at the memory.

"But what are we supposed to do with this information? We can't change our body temperature, unless we stick ice down our pants," a teenage X-series transgenetic said.

Luke frowned. "At least we know how they're picking you guys off," he said angrily.

Kris looked around, seeing Max smiling at her. She smiled slightly back. "Do whatever you want with it, I'm just the delivery girl. I should go, I'll see you guys later," she said.

"Thanks, Kris," Max said, coming over to her and giving her a hug. As she pulled away she added quickly, "Alec and I don't have anything going on, but I never warned you about my lie. O.C. called me today and yelled at me for not telling you. I never even told Alec about it cuz it was just supposed to make Logan hate me. I'm so sorry for being so selfish and shit. I didn't mean for you to doubt Alec."

Kris nodded. "I understand, but your plan didn't work. Logan still loves you, though now he's bitter. He feels inadequate but that doesn't change how he feels about you. It only makes him feel bad because he thinks he wasn't enough for you," Kris explained, glancing at Alec subconsciously. Alec was watching her attentively as well.

Max's eyes fell. "He was more than enough," she said quietly, tears started creeping into her eyes. No, now wasn't the time to cry.

Kris hugged her friend again. "Stop pushing him away. You guys have been through so much. He deserves the truth, don't you think?"

Max nodded and Kris smiled slightly. "Oh, by the way, how the hell did you get that CD?" Max asked.

Kris hesitated and then shrugged. "Got lucky. I'll see you later," she said, walking away.

Before she made it to the door, she felt someone's hand wrap around her wrist and pull her towards him.

"Hey," Alec said softly, once Kris was turned around to face him.

Kris didn't know how long she could last in his presence. When she saw him, she was happy, sad, angry, all mixed into one blob of emotion. She looked down at his hand on her wrist, momentarily savoring his touch, before wrenching her arm away from his. Anger was prevailing.

"Don't touch me," she said coldly.

Alec was taken aback for a second, "Sorry."

"What do you want?" she asked impatiently.

"I, uh, just wanted to know how you got the CD; you couldn't have gotten it easily."

"Like I told Max, I got lucky," Kris said. She wouldn't taunt him with the details in an attempt to make him jealous of a drunk hacker who passed out. She had realized how pathetic her actions had been as she ran over to T.C.

"C'mon, Kris, how did you do it?" Alec asked.

"It's not important, Alec. Just be glad that you guys know how they got Biggs," Kris said dismissively, not looking at him. She was having an excruciatingly hard time remaining civil to him when part of her wanted to rip his insides apart and the other wanted to jump into his arms and kiss him forever.

"No, Kris, wait," Alec said pleadingly, touching her shoulder and coming closer to her. He inhaled and looked strangely at her.

"I said don't..." Kris said, but she was cut off.

"You smell like alcohol and men's cologne," Alec said suspiciously.

Kris removed Alec's hand from her shoulder and began walking away again. She didn't want him to know what happened, how scared and stupid she was and lucky she had been to have not gotten hurt.

Alec froze for a second, processing all the evidence in front of him. "Kris! Tell me you didn't! Please!" Alec said angrily, running in front of her to cut off her path.

Her eyes narrowed. "Why would you care anyways? It's not like we're together anymore."

"I still care about you. You could have gotten hurt," Alec said impatiently. He kept on getting this visual in his mind of Kris and a faceless man, not himself, in bed...he wanted to pound the guy. But she was right, they weren't together anymore.

"Oh give me a break. You still care about me? You turned our relationship to shit when you screwed Cece, so why the hell should you be so concerned?" she asked him vehemently.

Alec's mouth dropped. Cece told her.

"You thought I wouldn't find out? You weren't gonna tell me, were you? Shit, I can't believe you, Alec. The first week we are apart you go and sleep with the most awful person I can think of. I mean, I thought you were the one who liked a challenge and sleeping with Cece wasn't a real challenge since she's been throwing herself at you for so long. But I guess that I was a long-ass challenge, so you wanted an easy fuck after having to jump through so many hoops to sleep with me, huh? That's what I was, wasn't I? A challenge for the Golden Boy to conquer," she spat out furiously.

Alec gulped. Was that what she thought. Oh God, that was what his actions made her think of him, of their time together. "No Kris, you know you meant…you mean so much to me," he said softly, "With Cece, I didn't have a choice..."

"No! Don't give me that bullshit! No! There's always a choice! Always! You just chose Cece over me and now I have to deal with that. Goddamn it, Alec, I trusted you! You said before that you would screw up and hurt me. And it happened! You said you loved me…was that a lie? Well, I won't lie to you. Even though I hate you for hurting me, I still love you. But it doesn't really matter now, does it? So, go, Alec, be mates with Cece, good luck with that," Kris said sarcastically, anger, bitterness, and hurt evident in her voice.

Alec had to explain quickly or else would never be able to salvage his relationship with Kris. "She was in heat and locked herself in my room and the cat DNA in me responded to her. I slept with her, but I didn't want to. I should have fought her off harder, but the animal part of me took over after smelling her pheromones. I had promised myself that I would stay true to you and then I broke that and I'm such a shithead, I know that. But our relationship isn't a game to me and I wasn't lying when I said I loved you…I never stopped, and...shit, I'm so sorry..." he trailed off.

Kris was silent, trying to understand what exactly he was saying. Cece trapped him, it was her fault all this happened. She looked past Alec and back towards the crowd surrounding Luke and the computer. She walked back towards the crowd.

Alec had no idea what she was doing. Didn't she have anything to say to him? Shouldn't she be yelling at him some more? He deserved it. He watched her walk towards the others.

Kris saw Cece on the outskirts of the crowd. "Hey, Cece," Kris greeted her.

Cece turned around and smirked at Kris. "Good job with the intel, I'm very impressed," she said casually.

"Thanks. Look, I have to tell you something," Kris said. She knew what she was doing, whether or not she would survive it was a completely different story. But she recklessly didn't care if she survived, Cece had this coming for a long time.

"Yeah? What?" Cece asked.

Kris opened her mouth as though she was going to say something, but her fist swiftly came across her body and hit Cece squarely on the left side of her face. Cece, caught off guard, fell onto the floor and the crowd shifted their attention onto the woman on the floor and the one standing angry over her.

"You're pathetic," Kris said icily. She turned around while Cece looked at her vengefully from the ground. Kris braced herself for Cece's attack from behind that would probably end in Kris' death or something very close to it, but nothing came. The crowd had held Cece back from attacking Kris, since Kris had just supplied T.C. with valuable information.

"Kris..." Alec said, attempting to hold her hand.

She pulled away. "No, no, I can't. I'll see you later, Alec." She was about to leave, but then turned around again. "It was a hacker, I wanted to hurt you by sleeping with him, but I couldn't. He passed out, and I made a copy of the CD," she added before running off.

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Author's Note: I am so sorry that it took all these months to update. You will not believe the writer's block I had with this story. The end is coming and I want it to be spectacular, but everything I wrote seemed so lame. I've built these characters up so much and so to have them look lame at the end was inexcusable. But I think I know what I'm going to write now. And God willing, it won't be lame. Thank you all for your e-mails and words of encouragement, and I apologize for the long delay. I didn't forget any of you or your support. It's what has been keeping me going and never giving up on this story. So thank you, dear reviewers, and please let me know what you think!