Alec glanced around the inside of the dilapidated old building he and Max had been taken to. The gritty examination room they were in was a far cry from Manticore's sterile smelling and high-tech labs. The man tinkering around Max under Alec's steady and warning gaze was large and surprisingly cheerful looking, not at all intimidating, and this made Alec even more on edge. Renfro wasn't in the room, but Alec knew she was watching.

When the chubby examiner picked up a large syringe Alec sprung to his feet. The man chuckled.

'Relax junior, it's just to slow down the spreading of the virus until you hand over the prize' the man shrugged noticing Alec's unconvinced look 'what other choice do you have?'

Alec backed down a bit, not enjoying the way everyone was reminding him of his helplessness. He was dying to ask a thousand questions, he decided to ask the examiner rather than give Renfro the satisfaction of asking her.

'What's to guarantee that after this virus is removed that whatever was in the alcohol wont trigger it again in some other form'

The man burst into laughter. 'The trigger was in alcohol? What are they putting in tonic these days, we thought it was the medication which trigged it off, that's what the virus was created to react to.'

'What medication?' Alec demanded

The man suddenly stopped his laughing and tensed up, probably realising he had said too much.

'Tell me' Alec said low and dangerously 'whatever Renfro can do to you, I can do ten times worse. I was trained to maim and kill'.

The man regained his composure and winked at Alec patronisingly. 'Well now, junior, there's two reasons I don't fear you. One, your little friend's life hangs in the balance and I don't think you'd compromise her safety, and two, the fact that you're here looking so concerned about this girl tells me that you're no longer the cold blooded killer you were trained to be'

Alec's blood boiled. If this man called him 'Junior' one more time the X5 would have to make sure the man would never have any 'juniors' of his own. He stayed still, although all of his Manticore instilled instincts told him to snap this guy's neck.

Alec's attentions turned towards the door as Renfro walked in, gun in hand and equipped with armed lackeys. The fat examiner paled, probably thinking Renfro was going to kill him for his mistake of revealing too much to Alec. Renfro observed the man's face and laughed with amusement.

 'Get a grip Hodge, what does it matter if he knows now?'

Renfro turned to face Alec, she walked so close to him he could smell her perfume. A scent he would now forever hate.

 'Poor little Alec. Inlove with somebody who is busy with another, you probably would have gotten rid of Eyes Only eventually on your own accord'.

What was that supposed to mean? Yes, he cared about Max. But he didn't love her. He couldn't, could he? No! His jealousy whenever he saw her with Logan and hope when he found over she had ended it with him wasn't because he loved her. Alec refused to consider it. He stared at Renfro with cold-hatred filled eyes, not saying a word.

She reached out and stroked her cold bony fingers down his cheek, instinct kicked in and Alec's hand grabbed Renfro's wrist so tightly that she froze and yelped in pain. Two guns were instantly pointed at his head and another two at the unconscious Max. It was the guns pointed at Max which caused Alec's grip to loosen slightly on Renfro's wrist allowing her to pull free and slapped him viciously across the face.

Alec just sat there unmoving, silent and furious.

Renfro stared at him, her eyes burnt deep and he had to fight himself not to squirm.

She shrugged 'I guess you don't want to know what caused the virus to surface, maybe you don't care about her as much as I thought. Unless you know what triggers the virus what are you going to do next time Maxie consumes the trigger? I wont always be around to help my old pal 452 out' She stood up and turned to leave.

Alec swallowed his pride in a giant gulp and a single word '…wait'

The triumphant grin on Renfro's face was almost more than he could stand. 'Why should I wait 494?

'Tell me what the trigger is' Alec said, defeated

'What's the magic word?'

Alec stared at her, was she for real? Yes, she was real, a very real sicko playing power games.

'Please' He spat out

Renfro made a 'tsk tsk' sound 'I want to hear it all together'

Through clenched teeth Alec hissed out 'Please tell me what the trigger is'

The look on Renfro's face made Alec vow to himself to make the death he had planned for her a painful and degrading one.

'Good soldier' she ruffled his hair and walked over to where Max was lying. She stared at Max with what Alec could only interpret as hunger. Alec knew that Renfro's hungers and desires were for power. He figured that this look meant that Max could somehow bring Renfro the power she strived for.

Alec could barely handle the woman having power over him. If she obtained any more he might spontaneously combust in frustration and fury.