Thank you to all the faithful nuns who keep reviewing. You all are so kind. I hope you like this chapter as much as I do.

Chapter 11

Max walked into the living room and stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart sped up as she looked into the hazel eyes that had haunted her nightmares for almost two years. She felt her own eyes well up with tears, and she ripped her gaze away from Ben's long enough to glance at Alec. He gave her a slight nod of encouragement and one corner of his mouth tilted up in mini-smirk. She looked back to her brother and before she knew it she was in his arms. She couldn't remember closing the distance between their bodies, but it didn't matter. She didn't care how it happened. She just cared that it happened. She breathed deeply memorizing his scent. Her tears spilled over. He was alive! Alive. Alive! Alive!

Ben tried to be offended that she had looked to Alec for reassurance before hugging him, but he couldn't. It didn't matter. Even now as she openly sobbed against his chest, it was blatantly obvious that she loved him. And he loved her back. He had spent the first ten years missing her, and the past two hating himself for what he had asked her to do. And here she was forgiving him without him even asking.

He soothed her as best he could by stroking her hair and whispering reassurances into her hair. "Shh, it's okay Max. It's ok. I'm here." His heart clenched in his chest when she began chanting back: "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" between her sobs. Fighting back his own tears, he glanced over at Alec noticing the look on his twin brother's face. For a split second Ben thought he saw jealousy in those eyes, but then he realized he saw something else entirely. Apparently Alec didn't harbor the brotherly feelings for Max that Ben had expected. He may have been on to something when he had teased Alec about being with Max earlier.

Ben knew that Alec and Brin had that brother-sister thing going on, and he had just assumed that Alec was that way with Max too. But Alec's eyes gave him away. Those were not the eyes of a brother.

Interesting.

When she had no tears left to cry, Max gave him one final, punctuated squeeze and pulled back. She looked up at him and he rested his forehead on hers. She smiled and stepped back wiping her tears on the back of her hands.

"Wow." She managed.

"Yeah."

Neither of them knew where to start. Seeing this, Alec broke the silence.

"Anybody thirsty? I'll go get us something to drink." He headed off into the kitchen making a hand signal to Ben for them to sit.

"Do you want to sit, Maxie?"

Max nodded hiccupping a sob at the use of her childhood nickname as it rolled off of Ben's tongue. Even though Alec and the boys called her that daily, it sounded different when Ben said it. Something about the inflection of his voice, maybe.

Ben took her hand and led her over to the couch. He sat down pulling her down beside him. She turned her body and crossed her leg underneath her body so that she was facing him. Their intertwined fingers rested on her leg.

"Tell me about you, Maxie."

"I don't know where to start."

"Start with Alec." Max had a weird sense of déjà vu' at the thought of Ben asking her about Alec. How many times had she replayed in her head the night that Alec had asked her about Ben?

"What do you want to know?"

"Did you think he was me?" Ben asked quietly unable to maintain eye contact with her.

"At first, yeah. For about two seconds. Then he opened his mouth and the illusion was shattered." She tried to lighten the mood with a little humor. "Not only was he sarcastic and cocky, but his eyes were different. I wished he was you." She said squeezing his hand, getting him to look up at her again. He squeezed back.

"How did you meet?" Ben asked as Alec came back holding three glasses.

"He was my breeding partner."

Ben's eyes widened slightly and he smiled up at Alec. "Damn Alec, how many of my sisters have been your breeding partner?"

Alec's grip on one of the glasses slipped and a small amount of the liquid spilled out before he was able to right it. "Uh.." he stammered as he put the glasses down on the coffee table and sat on the edge facing them.

"What does that mean?" Max asked.

"Well.."Alec tried to think of how to phrase it. This was not how he wanted Max to find out about this. Well, he didn't want Max to find out at all, but if he had a gun to his head and was forced to tell her, this was not the way he wanted it done.

Ben smiled enjoying watching Alec squirm. A little payback for not telling Logan who Ben was… "Alec was Brin's breeding partner before he was yours."

"What?"

Alec didn't say anything.

"And you never told me!" she continued.

"I thought you might get upset."

"Upset? Upset? Like I'm not upset now? You've lied to me all this time!"

"I didn't lie. It just never came up."

"Never came up? Never came up?" she was incredulous.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you keep repeating everything I say in the form of a question? Yeah, Max, it never came up! "

"Whoa. Sorry. Didn't mean to start a fight." Ben interrupted.

"It's not you. It's Alec. It's always Alec." Max said irritated.

A voice from the doorway interrupted the reunion.

"Everything alright in here?" Logan said looking directly at Max. He had heard the fighting and he caught her last comment about Alec.

Max looked up at Logan taking in his appearance. She glanced at Alec. He hadn't told her Logan was this bad off. Both prior bouts with the virus had not had any lasting effects. It didn't seem that Logan was so lucky this time. She wondered if the wheelchair would be permanent this time.

"Everything's fine." Max said standing. "Where is Brin?"

Logan gestured for her to follow him into the next room.

When they were alone Alec looked to Ben.

"Nice." He said sarcastically.

"She's always had a short fuse. But it burns out quickly. She'll be fine."

"Oh, so you're an expert on Max now?" Alec said defensively.

"I know her better than you do." Ben shot back.

"Really?"

"Really. Some things don't change no matter how many years go by."

"Ok." Alec said thoughtfully before firing off questions like he was an interrogator. "Who is her best friend? What kind of gum does she chew? What is her favorite song? How does she take her coffee? How many times has she been in love? What is her biggest regret? Who is her hero?"

"Those are details, man. I know Max. I know her how it counts." Ben replied seriously.

"And I don't?" Why was Alec getting so upset? They both had ties to Max. So what?

"You tell me."

This had taken an odd turn. Alec had spent his life wishing for a family, and here he was, one day into it and they were fighting over a chick.

Typical.

Brin interrupted, "If the pissing contest is almost over, I made some dinner."

The two men glanced at each other silently agreeing on a truce, and followed her into the dining room.

Biggs flashed his lights at Axel signaling to him to pull over.

"What's up?"

"Remember that mission we did a few years back? The one where afterward we went to that bar with the topless waitresses?"

"Yeah?"

"Isn't that it?" Biggs gestured to a neon sign between some trees.

"I think so."

"Thirsty?" He asked with a smile.

"Always." Axel said sounding like Alec.

"It's not like we're in a hurry to get home, right?"

"We can take a night off." Axel agreed seriously.

"Hotel and a shower first?"

"You get us a couple of rooms, I'll call into HQ and tell them we'll be back late."

"Deal."

Dinner was awkward.

Logan couldn't stop himself from mentally comparing Ben to Alec and Alec to Ben. He mentally catalogued everything from the way each held a fork to how many times they chewed before they swallowed.

"What is your problem?" Alec asked as he slammed his fork down on his plate and glared at Logan.

"What? I didn't do anything?" Logan responded, embarrassed that he got caught.

"You're staring at me. It's weird."

"Sor-ry." He said sarcastically.

Alec slammed his fork down again. "What is your problem? Is this about Max?"

"No!-"

"Guys!" Max interrupted. "Can we please just eat?"

"But he's looking at me." Alec argued.

"Do you need a time out or something?" she asked Alec. Logan smirked happy that Alec was in trouble.

"And you.." she continued turning to Logan. "Why can't you control yourself at dinner parties? I thought you high society people had manners? Now, I know he's pretty, but let the man eat." She said effectively ending the matter.

Logan opened his mouth to respond and closed it again before uttering even a sound.

"You can look at me, man. I'm just as pretty and I don't mind." Ben quipped and winked at Logan. "Ow!" he yelled as Brin kicked him under the table and Max gave him a death glare.

"Sorry." He said trying unsuccessfully to stifle his laughter.

"You are not." Max giggled as his laughter spread to her.

It wasn't long before all the transgenics were laughing.

Logan even smiled, but that was mostly because Max was so pretty when he smiled that he couldn't help it and not because he understood why they were all laughing.

Later on that evening Max found Logan working at his computer.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Hey Max. Have you been standing there long?"

"No. How are you feeing?"

"Good. Better." Logan lied and she knew it.

"Already back to work?"

"Yeah. I'm looking into something for Alec."

"Alec?"

"Well, really for Brin. I think I may know a doctor that can help her."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I've been following up leads on old Manticore doctors. Trying to find a cure. I think one can help Brin."

"Oh, come on. We've had absolutely no luck with them, but you think they can help Brin? Get real."

"Max, neurological science is way more mainstream that specifically encoded DNA research. There are exponentially more doctors who can treat or at least diagnose a brain condition, than could help us with our thing."

"I guess."

"I'm doing a little research on my own, but without an EEG or an MRI or at least a CAT scan, we have no starting point."

He turned back to his computer, continuing his research.

Max was suddenly very uncomfortable. How many nights had she just sat and watched him work, and tonight, she was weirded out after two minutes.

Alec and Ben appeared at the door and Logan looked up. He couldn't get over how identical those two were. They were even standing the same.

"What's up Alec?" Logan asked looking at the one in the blue shirt and taking a guess.

"I'm Ben." Alec kidded.

"Oh sorry." He looked at Ben. "What's up Alec?"

Ben rolled his eyes and punched a laughing Alec lightly on the arm. "You were right the first time, Log."

"I was just kidding with you, pal." Alec said dropping the game and clapping Logan on the back to prove that he wasn't Ben.

"Hey man, Sorry about almost killing you. I didn't know I had that virus thingy. I had never even heard of anything like it." Ben apologized.

Logan stopped glaring at Alec and turned to the real Ben.

"No problem. Max does it to me all the time." Logan joked.

Max stood up. She hated death humor. She had lost too many people she loved to joke about it.

"God there's too much testosterone in here! Can we please be serious for ten seconds!"

The three men turned to her.

"So what's the plan?" she asked.

"There is no plan, yet." Alec answered.

"Perfect."

Logan spoke up, "We've all had a long day. Why don't we get some sleep and we'll deal with it in the morning."

They all nodded as if they just realized how tired they were.

"Ok. I already gave Brin my room. I'll take the couch. Ben you can have Joshua's room, and Alec and Max you two can take Alec's old room." Logan said trying not to let any emotion show on his features.

Ben hid his face to hide his smirk.

Alec waited for Max to react. this should be good for a laugh

"Good idea. I'm beat. Night guys." She walked out of the room. She poked her head back in when nobody else moved. "Alec, are you coming to bed?"

"Yeah, baby. I'll be right there." He waited until he heard Max was in his room with the door closed before he said "Night boys. We'll try to keep it quiet." And strutted out of the room.

Damn he enjoyed that.

Was it wrong to enjoy that?

Nah.

He smiled and opened the door to his room.

A pillow hit him in the face. "I heard that." Max hissed, smiling.

"Sorry, Max. It had to be said. If people are going to believe we're together, then we need to act like it. And nobody is going to believe that a woman could sleep next to me and be able to control herself." He said with a straight face.

"You are such a jerk." She laughed hitting him with another pillow.

He retaliated and before they knew it they were in an all out pillow fight. Alec grunted and Max giggled and groaned as they fought like children.

Hearing the noises coming from behind Alec's door, Logan's heart broke a little bit more. He wheeled himself over to the couch and pulled a pillow over his head trying to block out the sounds…

Not two hours later the silence of the house was interrupted by a piercing scream for help. In less than three seconds Max, Ben and Alec had woken up and blurred into the hallway looking for the source of the screaming. Their quick reflexes were the only things that prevented Alec and Ben from crashing into each other as they exited their respective bedrooms.

From where they stood—all in fighting stances—they took in the sight of Brin trying to hold Logan still as he seized violently on the floor of the living room. Knowing that he was the only one who could help without killing Logan, Alec rushed to Brin's side and helped her hold Logan down to keep him from hurting himself. Hating the helplessness of his situation Ben put an arm around Max's shoulders and pulled her to him as they watched Alec and Brin struggling to help him. It took a minute for Ben to realize that something was wrong with Brin. As Logan's seizure subsided Brin continued to hold him, rocking his unconscious body back and forth and chanting " Hold on, Jack. Don't worry Jack. I won't let them take you." Max heard it too and the two exchanged worried glances as they realized that Brin was reliving a childhood memory of their brother Jack seizing back at Manticore. Ben released Max and moved over to Brin. Careful to avoid touching Logan himself he tried to draw her away from Logan, but she wouldn't have it. She lashed out and caught him with vicious left hook. Dazed, he fell back on his ass.

"I won't let you have him!" she screamed and pulled Logan closer to her chest.

Max approached her sister. "Brin. It's me, Max."

"Max-" Alec tried to warm her to be careful. She silenced him with a wave of her hand as she continued to move closer to Brin. She knew what she was doing. If Brin was having a flashback, then Max was the only one who could get through to her. There had not been any female guards bacl at Manticore. There was no way Brin could look at her and see a guard.

Brin looked uncertainly up at her.

"No one's going to hurt him. No one's going to take him away. We just want to help him. Make him comfortable. Can we help him?" Max asked.

Brin nodded as tears fell from her eyes.

Max pulled Brin gently away from Logan as Alec picked him up and put him back on the couch. The two women clung tightly to each other as Max soothed her sister as best she could.

The morning found Logan conscious again, Ben with a black eye, and Brin sleeping soundly in a chair by the couch. She had refused to leave Logan's side.

Logan and Ben were quietly discussing Logan's plans for Brin and the doctor he thought could help her.

Max and Alec were on the computer trying to have a meeting with Mole and Dix over the video phone.

They had just heard the results of the scouting missions. Things were not looking good. Not only had Axel and Biggs struck out, so had the other teams. They were running out of time and options.

"Does anybody have any suggestions?" Alec asked.

Not really. Mole answered. Nothing involving everyone going together anyway. We could make a go of it by splitting up into units.

"I don't like the idea of everyone fending for themselves. 'Divide and conquer' rings in my head at the thought." Max said.

I agree, Max Dix responded. But we have to do something. We can't stay here anymore. We could continue scouting and try to regroup later, but splitting up is the only viable option we have at this point.

"You're right." Alec spoke up making the decision nobody else wanted to have to make. "Call in all operatives in the field. Have everyone report in to their unit. Set up a contact number and give the order to scatter and go to ground." He said tonelessly, but his stress was evident by the clenched fists and tight jaw as he spoke.

Max nodded and put a hand on his arm.

Done. Mole said signaling to a transhuman behind him to relay the order to the others.

"What are we going to do about Brin?" Ben asked as Max and Alec were telling Ben and Logan about the call to TC.

"She can stay here." Logan offered.

"No way. We don't leave anyone behind." Ben stated firmly.

"Not forever. Just temporarily. I can get her into see that doctor, she can help me until I've recovered and then you can come back for her."

"No." Ben repeated.

"It's not a bad idea, Ben." Alec reasoned.

"No."

"Ben, it's better than taking her with us like she is. You brought her back because you couldn't handle her. And we can't help her as long as we're on the run. Logan can get her the help she needs. We can't." Max agreed with Alec and Logan.

"We're always going to be on the run Max."

"Not like this." She argued back.

"What about protecting her?"

"Logan is well connected. He's got friends at the hospital, on the police force, on the city council, if anyone could protect her it's him." Max argued.

While Alec didn't necessarily agree that Logan was some great protector, he was the only option and he knew that Logan would do anything for Max. He knew that Logan wouldn't let anything happen to Brin.

"And it's not like we're abandoning her. If there is a problem, we can be back within hours." Alec said backing up Max.

Knowing he was outnumbered, "I still don't like it." Ben conceded.

"Neither do we. But she needs help." Alec spoke for himself and Max.

"I'll tell her." Ben said as he left the room.

"Are you sure that you can handle this?" Max asked turning to Logan.

"Absolutely. Besides, she'll be helping me too. I still can't even lift myself out of this chair." Logan admitted.

"I'll have OC, Sketchy and Kendra check in on you two."

"Thanks Max."

"Thank you Logan."

Brin had not protested being left behind even a little bit. She even seemed excited by the possibility of staying behind. Ben tried to explain to her that it was temporary and that they would be back for her, but she wasn't even slightly concerned. She actually wanted to stay. Not that they should have been surprised. Brin hadn't been farther than three feet from Logan since his seizure last night. She only left him long enough to cook for him.

Not surprisingly, lunch was a little awkward. Everyone was preoccupied with their feelings about what was happening. Silence reigned as everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Not that anyone minded the lack of conversation. It was a vast improvement from the childish bickering that had accompanied diner the night before.

Max was torn between being sad to be leave Seattle, and at the same time excited to be starting over. And now that she had Ben and Brin back, she didn't care where she was, she was with her family.

Ben was not happy about leaving Brin, but he knew that it was the best thing for her. He had brought her to Seattle to get her some help, and that was what was happening.

Alec was trying to plan their trip in his head. He knew they had to be far enough away that they were safe, but close enough to come back if Brin needed them.

They shouldn't have bothered worrying.

None of their feelings mattered a few minutes later.

A loud sound erupted in the distance and the walls gently vibrated.

"Was that an earthquake?" Logan asked as Ben simultaneously said, "Was that a bomb?" as he tried to match the sound to his former training with explosives.

Max raced to the window and looked in the direction the sound had come from.

Smoke billowed from the wreckage directly where TC was. She choked out a sob as her fears were confirmed.

Alec rushed to the computer and tried to connect to TC. He couldn't get the connection to go through.

Behind him, Max pulled out her cell phone and tried to get Mole to answer. No luck.

Alec and Max exchanged looks and without a word Alec left the room to retrieve the box of weapons they had stored in the hall closet.

Ben pulled on his shoes and awaited orders.

Max got control of her emotions before she turned to Logan and Brin. "We'll be in contact. Take care of each other."

Brin hugged her tightly as Alec returned and slipped a Beretta into her hand.

She pulled away to let Alec and Ben take turns saying goodbye to their sister, as Max tucked the Beretta into her waistband and strapped a knife to her left calf.

"Max, be careful." Logan predictably advised her and she stood up and pulled her pantleg over to cover the blade.

"We will." She responded emphasizing her displeasure that his endearment didn't include Alec and Ben.

Armed for combat, the three soldiers headed into battle hoping to offer what help they could to what was left of their people.

A soft beeping sound repeating itself three times woke Biggs out of a peaceful sleep. The noise wasn't that loud, but it didn't take much to wake a soldier who was that well trained. Especially when he was sleeping in an unfamiliar bed. He always slept better in his own space. Outside of that everything was enemy territory and everyone was a potential threat. A smile bloomed on his face as he took in the sensation of the soft, warm body snuggled up against his. Well, he hadn't thought of her as a 'potential threat' when he brought her to bed with him. He stifled a giggle at his own stupid joke.

He and Axel had had no problem finding female company in that bar. Biggs had charmed a redheaded bartender and Axel's green-eyed blond had not only been the owner's daughter but also the headlining stripper. They had partied late into the night and not even had to spend a dime—except for the two hotel rooms.

The noise that had awoken him had been his cell phone receiving a text message. Without disturbing the sleep of the naked redhead (Mandy? Mindy? Missy? Whatever. He didn't care. A little thing he picked up from Alec—remembering their names made them memorable. He'd seen Alec after Rachel Berrisford and he had no interest in love after seeing that. In fact, it was Biggs' goal to never even hear the last name of a woman he bedded. Ever.), Biggs stretched his leg out of the covers and picked up his discarded jeans with his toes. He eased his leg up until he could reach the jeans with his left hand (the right one being trapped in a particularly compromising place underneath the woman) and fished the phone out of his pocket. He flipped the cell open and hit the message button. The message popped up and Biggs blinked in surprise before re-reading it.

The message read, "Base under attack. Displace. Go to Ground."

He jumped out of bed no longer mindful of the woman beside him. Ignoring her displeasure at being tossed off of him and woken so violently he dressed quickly, grabbed his keys and tore out of the room. He raised a fist to beat on Axel's door and had to pull his punch at the last second as Axel blurred out of the door.

"Shit!" Axel said ducking the blow.

"Sorry." Biggs said tonelessly as the two men jumped over the railing and landed on the ground floor mounting their bikes and kickstarting them simultaneously.

They sped in the direction of TC heedless of attracting attention.

Axel's head was reeling as he and Biggs wove between traffic trying to get home as fast as they could. Not that TC was home, but when you lived like they did, home was where your family was, and Alec and Max were in Seattle…

Any residual good feelings from last nights fun faded like a distant memory as they pushed their bikes to their limits. They were such assholes! They had risked exposure and let down their people for a night of drinking, dancing and sex.

Axel hadn't even slept yet when he had heard his phone beckoning to him. He had been pretending to resist being enticed into the shower with Jessie? Jamie? Jenny? Whatever.—The doe-eyed blond who was almost as energetic and insatiable as he was in bed. Poor thing. She would've come out of the shower to find herself alone and abandoned without even a goodbye. Too bad. Couldn't be avoided. Still, it sucked to leave like that. Not that it mattered. Any guilt he had over her bruised feelings disappeared as her sad face was replaced in her mind with the bloodied bodies of countless X's and freaks currently fighting back in Seattle. He squeezed the throttle tighter and willed his bike to go faster.