A/N: THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED!!! :-) luv ya'll!!!

X5-467 and X5r211= Maybe Max will run into her own ghosts...who knows? ;-)

Gangstagirl452= Rachel is dead. She's a ghost in this story...PEACE!

And to everyone else!!: this is MA!!!

Chapter Nine: Toying with the Supernatural

Alec stood frozen, staring in shock and confusion at the girl that he first loved. The girl that hade him spend a week in Psy Ops. The girl that made him wallow in guilt for several months straight. The mere thought of her made his heart ache. And yet, here she was, standing in front of him, looking very much alive.

"Rachel," he said again, blinking several times, trying to make sure that he was not hallucinating.

"Hello Simon," she said, smiling a row of pearly white teeth. "Or should I say Alec?"

Realization dawned, and Alec's eyes narrowed suspiciously. He had to remind himself that he was in Sunnydale, home to the Hellmouth. And now that, that thought was firmly plastered in his head, awareness came hurtling back towards him. All traces of guilt, and pain gone.

It appears that the supernatural was toying with him.

"Who are you?" he asked cagily.

"I'm Rachel," she replied innocently. "I'm sure you remember me, do you Simon?"

Alec remained silent, not willing to give in to her sweet smile...

"Of course you do," she continued, her smile growing wider. "Remember that Snoopy song I did on the piano? You loved that didn't you?"

Alec's stomach tightened. Of course I do, Rachel.

"And the time we spent in the pool?" she asked. "That was so romantic!"

You looked so beautiful Rachel...so pure...so naive...

Then Rachel's face hardened, her smile growing cold. It was a look that was completely foreign on her usually bright, and carefree face. "But all that, were lies." She said. "Everything about us was a lie..."

"No it wasn't," Alec whispered under his breath, forgetting for a moment that this really wasn't Rachel. He was swept back into the painful memories of his past. "I loved you. But I was under orders...I couldn't do anything."

"You betrayed us!" she spat, fire dancing in her bright brown eyes. "You tried to kill my father...and if it weren't for me...he'd be dead...and it's all your fault."

"No," Alec murmured. "No!"

"How could you be so heartless Alec?"

"No!" Alec yelled in denial and swung his fist at the nearest object, angry tears streaming down his face.

"Alec!"

He turned around and saw Max climbing in through the window, her face a mass of shock and bewilderment.

When he turned the other way....

Rachel was gone.

Max gazed at Alec, surprised at the display of emotions that he was showing her right now. Anger, regret, sorrow, and deep, deep pain all rolled into one. And it hurt her to see him like this. So vulnerable and confused. The only time she had seen him like this was during the Rachel incident. When Robert Berrisford tried luring him back into the Manor to kill him. It was Max who was able to save Alec's ass.

And it was Max who saw him like this.

"Alec?" she asked gently, glancing at the large dent on the wall where he slammed his fist into, and his now masked face of blankness. It was his 'soldier face', and the one he had on now would've done Renfro proud. "What happened?"

He looked at her slowly, his hazel-green eyes glimmering with something unreadable. "It was Rachel, Max. She made an apparition."

"What?" Max asked, puzzled. "I meant, what'd she say?"

"She accused me of lying to her," Alec said, his voice slightly shaking. "And of betraying her."

Betrayer. Traitor. Max fought impulse to shiver. Those had to be her two least favorite words. Being dubbed as the 'Traitorous '09ers', she understood how Alec felt. She too had felt the sting of those words before.

"Are you sure that it was her?" Max asked, curiously. They were in Sunnyhell, after all.

Alec shook his head, looking her straight in the eye. "That's what makes me feel so stupid, Maxie...for actually believing that it was her...when it really...wasn't." he finished feebly.

"The First," Max murmured under her breath, cursing the Evil for doing this to her- to her erm...friend. Her gaze tumbled down to his hands, which were trembling, and her eyes widened. First effects of seizures. She thought, fumbling around her leather jacket for her Tryptophan. Unfortunately she couldn't find them.

"Agent Sandoval was right," Alec said in a tone so soft that Max barely heard him. "I am weak."

"No you're not," Max snapped furiously. And just as she said it, Alec collapsed to the floor in a fit of seizures.

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Jewel scurried around the Command Center, grabbing the usual equipment one would need during a quick ride to some tiny place called Sunnydale. After hearing the news, she had immediately dialed Max's number. Unfortunately, all she received was static. Then they tried Alec's cell, and received absolutely nothing. So Jewel made the immediate decision of going to where ever the two transgenics where and get them herself.

She loaded her precious M16, and tucked it safely in the waistband of her jeans. She checked her mobile phone, making sure that the battery was still full, and did a swift count through her cash. Fifty dollars. Not much. But it'd have to do. Besides, she didn't think that she'd be going shopping any time soon.

"Hey Dix!" she yelled behind her back, as she climbed onto her motorbike.

"Yeah?" the transhuman asked, as he monitored the computers, carefully keeping tabs on the news. Mole stood beside him, puffing his cigar gleefully, as he was now in charge over TC. Not that Jewel didn't trust him. It was simply the fact that Mole tended to get a bit violent towards ordinaries, and would've probably declared war himself, if it weren't for the reprimanding of his superior officers, Jewel, Max, and Alec.

"Call me the second you hear anything more about the damned genocide thingy, alright?"

"No problem, missy." Dix said flipping a thumbs-up. "And get back as soon as you can. I don't think TC'll be able to stand on its own without its three topmost leaders."

"Don't worry, I will." Jewel promised and signaled for the gates to be opened. Dalton, a young X6 with spiky blonde hair pulled them up, and she sped out into the night.

A/N: Okay, i know that was a bit confusing..the alec and rachel part..but to further explain things...Rachel's a ghost..the First to be exact, and she's simply playing with Alec....REVIEW!