"Eve."
"What are you doing here?"
"I need a place to crash."
"Now's not a good time."
Alarms were ringing in Alec's head. He could tell by her tone that something was wrong. Bless her for being an open book. "Is it something I did?" he asked. He knew it would provoke her to answer. While she stammered about circumstances and his angelic benevolence for protecting her, Alec scribbled a note on a piece of paper and slid it through the crack between the door and jamb. Unlock the chain. Aloud, he replied that he would see her later. He heard the faint sound of chanking metal. It was the work of a few seconds to carefully unlock the deadbolt, and a minute's work to kayo the bruiser in Eve's apartment.
"Alec!" Eve threw herself into her rescuer's arms, trembling violently.
"What's going on?" he asked as he sat her down on a chair.
"Oh, you know, your typical marriage proposal," she said with a weak laugh. Alec looked up from binding the unfortunate thug's hands, and Eve waved her ring at him. Her chin began quivering again, and she pulled the ring off. "Fuck!" She rested her head on her hands.
When Alec came back from disposing of the thug in a supply closet, Eve had pulled herself together enough to raid the refrigerator.
"Beer?" she offered. Alec took it silently and watched while she gulped down her own. "What?" she asked crossly, fed up with Alec's analyzing stare.
"Did he hurt you?"
Eve tucked her hair behind her ear, revealing a nasty red welt on her cheekbone.
All the X-5s had been cross-trained with first aid knowledge, and his fingers gently probed the left side of Eve's face. "Nothing seems broken. What was that all about?"
Haltingly, Eve filled him in on Freddy Pratt and his unique way of sweeping a girl off her feet.
"Alec!" she called after him as he headed for the door angrily. "Please don't. He's not worth it."
"No, but you are," he said gruffly. "It's not right."
"Please don't leave me," she begged. Alec hesitated. "Please"
The morning came too soon for Logan, who had only managed to catch a few troubled hours of sleep. He decided that he had learned as much as he could by himself. It was time to tell Max what he found out and hope that she knew what it meant.
When Logan walked into the control station of Terminal City, Max was feeling pretty good. Ever since her...ever since Alec...ever since last night she'd been feeling relaxed and in control. Relieved. As much as she hated to admit it, Original Cindy had been right about the benefits of one night stands. Even when she saw Logan, her spirits weren't dampened. He looked adorable in all his grim seriousness.
"Max," Logan greeted her, surprised by the warmth he saw in her eyes. Just yesterday she seemed like she wanted to kill him. Now he could almost believe she loved him back. "I've been doing some reading." God, he wished he could elicit that smile from her all the time. But it was probably better he couldn't or he'd be in some serious, virus-induced trouble.
He was in the middle of explaining what he knew when Alec waltzed into the room. Almost immediately, Joshua began growling.
"Hey, Big Fella," Alec spread his arms amiably. "I thought we were over this."
Max looked alarmed, now, as Joshua got closer to Alec. The latter's face was losing its jovialness, and it looked like this fight would actually come to a head. "Back down, Josh," Alec warned.
"Joshua?" Max wanted to know what was going on. What had Alec done to Joshua now? Her appeal had no effect, however, and the two transgenics stood less than a foot apart. Joshua grabbed Alec suddenly by his leather jacket and lifted him into the air so that his neck was at the level of Joshua's canines. Max started forward the same time that Mole and Luke did to break up the fight, but by the time any of them were close enough, Joshua had dropped Alec and was busy smelling his clothes.
"What did you do to him, Alec?" Max asked as she pulled him to his feet and away from Joshua.
Alec looked like his head would explode. "What did I do? Nothing you didn't do!" He was cut off from further yelling by Joshua.
"Father. Or half-Father." He was smiling broadly.
"What?"
"Alec smells like Father."
"How is that possible, Josh?" Logan asked.
"When Max stays at Logan's, she smells like Logan. Alec stayed with Father."
"No, I didn't." Alec brushed himself off, still utterly pissed at every last person in the room. Joshua insisted until Max finally asked where he had passed the night.
"I crashed at Eve's, thank you." It was Logan's turn to redden with anger. He lunged forward, but was stopped by Mole.
"Josh, he can't smell like Sandeman," Max said gently.
"Half-Father. Like," he growled instinctively, "White. Half-Father."
"Are you suggesting that my cousin's dad was Sandeman? That's impossible."
"The nose knows."
"She doesn't know her dad," Alec pointed out.
Max looked at Logan. His face was dark, and he obviously did not believe that a fugitive Sandeman had found time to woo his aunt. "Logan," she asked him gently. "Can you call your aunt?"
"Max, we're talking about smelling DNA here," he pointed out.
"It's the closest thing we have to a lead. Sandeman is the key to everything."
"Okay."