The thing that set Terminal City apart from the rest of Seattle—besides the gene sequences of its inhabitants—was the hours the transgenics kept. Max wasn't alone in her inability to sleep. At any given time between midnight and 7am a third of Terminal City was awake and active. Max had tried everything to make herself sleep longer than two hours. She had even resorted to praying, but in the end, her genetic constitution won out and made her restless and claustrophobic. She felt like she couldn't impose on Joshua anymore; she'd spent the entire day holed up in the Big Fella's room. In her state there was only one other person she could turn to.

Max peeked out of her door and checked to see that the hallway was clear. If she could just focus on her training...and if there weren't any X-series males over 17 in the hallway...she might make it.

Back to the wall, she skulked down the corridor, breathing shallowly and listening intently. A sudden rush of blood caused by the very tantalizing smell of cologne caused her ears to roar and she picked up speed, opting for speed instead of stealth.

"Max!" Alec greeted her, and she shoved passed him brusquely, blurring out of sight before he could react.

She blurred all the way to her old apartment. Her body was screaming for her to stop, partially because even X-5s weren't trained to run that fast for that long, partially because it had been screaming—pleading even—for her to stop since she ran into Alec. Her body wanted him and had seized on his scent, which stuck in her nostrils and triggered various x-rated fantasies.

When Original Cindy opened the door, Max all but collapsed on her friend.

"Damn, boo, what the hell's up?" she asked as she helped Max to a chair.

Max panted. "I'm in heat."

"Oh." OC's lips were pursed as she tried to work things out in her head. "Ain't nothing make it go away?"

Max shook her head. "Nothing besides sex. Or time."

"Self-service?"

"Tried that. Then I went out and made it with all four members of a garage band. In their garage. While their mom cooked dinner."

"Why don't you just find yourself someone, boo?" Cindy suggested. "You overlook the benefits of one night stands." She moved to get her friend coffee.

Max shook her head and accepted the steaming mug.

"Why not?"

Max looked at the coffee. "You know why."

OC pulled another chair and put an arm around her friend. "You're stuck between a rock and a hard place, sugar." She paused. "I've seen you during this, 'member? If you don't get it out of your system, you're going to kill him."

A tear slid down Max's cheek. "I know, but I feel so guilty. I hate this."

OC hugged her a little tighter. "I know, boo. But if anybody understands it, it's you transgenics. Maybe one of them?" Max sighed heavily. "Maybe Alec?"

"Alec?" Max sat straight up. "Alec!"

"Yeah...there's a kind of cosmic irony about it, with your being breeding partners and then telling Logan you were together..."

Max moaned and put her head in her hands. "The sad thing is, it make sense." Another sigh. "But only if I'm really desperate. Really, really, really desperate."