Chapter 2

OC's apartment, Sector 4

Max woke up feeling light-headed, and she rolled over slowly. That action alone caused her to feel green. She threw back the bed covers and raced for the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before she expelled the contents of her stomach.

Original Cindy appeared in the doorway, sleepy-eyed and wearing a silk robe, surveying her suspiciously.

Sliding back against the wall, Max felt her tummy growl. "I swear I'm never to touch bar nuts again."

"Boo, bar nuts are the least of your problems," Original Cindy said with a frown. "When was the last time Charlie came for a visit?" At Max's confused look, OC explained, "Your rags, the monthly monster..."

"Oh that!" Max laughed uncomfortably. "Doesn't happen quite that way for me."

"Okay," Original Cindy said. "How then, aside from when you go all dark-side on me."

"Well there's that," Max conceded with a grimace. "And well, nothing else really."

"So no cramps, no bleedin', and feelin' like someone's walked all over yeah, damn boo." Original Cindy sank down next to her shaking her head. "I don't envy you for the most part sugah but trust me, you're so lucky you don't get no rags."

Then it dawned on her why Original Cindy had pursued this line of thought in the first place. "You don't think...no, I can't be," Max argued.

"My cousin was like you, food aversions, sore breasts, running to the bathroom every ten minutes..."

"Only this morning," Max pointed out.

"Bathroom stops, Max. Normal's been whinin' about how many breaks you been taking. Usually you take less than all of us."

Max fell silent and pursed her lips into a thin line. She had been feeling a little icky lately, and everyone remembered Sketchy almost getting his ass kicked something heavy when he'd run into her coming down the ramp at Jam Pony.

"Hey!" she screeched when he elbowed her in the chest, as he came zipping down the ramp.

"Sorry, Max," he uttered. "But I barely brushed you and..."

She had roughly grabbed him by the jacket lapels and glared at him. "You could watch me barely bruise your crotch with my knee. Look where you're going next time," she hissed.

As she stalked away she could feel his, along with half a dozen pairs of eyes glued into her back.

So she'd overreacted a smidge. It had been an accident but that didn't mean that it hadn't hurt like hell. Her breasts were awfully sensitive lately. "It could be anything," Max offered quietly.

Original Cindy put her arm around Max and hugged her firmly. "Why don't you just get yourself checked out? Can't hurt, and you'll know for sure."

A few hours later she wondered just how right OC was in her assessment. Someone could be hurting quite a bit right about now, if she knew where to find him.

Curse him. Who knew he was so fertile, or that she could be? Good thing she hadn't been busy with him in Manticore or they would have had even bigger problems on their hands. She immediately thought of Gem. Baby Missy was adorable, and Gem loved her to bits, but she never talked about Missy's father. All they knew was that he was an X5 and that he had been her breeding partner before the escape.

It could have been her and Max shuddered at the thought. Things were different now, they were out and she loved Alec, but if it had happened back then. She didn't even want to think about it.

Pregnant. About two and a half months, Beverly had said. Max lay on her stomach, and her face buried in the pillow. Give it a couple of months and she wouldn't be able enjoy the luxury any more. What scared her most was that she was carrying this child not knowing how Alec really felt about her or where he was.

For hours she had waited for him to come back, the night she'd finally decided to see him. She'd gotten so fidgety that she'd tidied his whole room, made his bed and fixed the radiator. But he had been a no show. After a week had gone by and he still hadn't returned, she had begun to worry. Biggs didn't know where he'd gone. He hadn't said anything to anyone. He had just up and left.

There was one person she had yet to ask, and she didn't like where it would take her. Sensing the life growing inside her, she had to exhaust every avenue if it meant finding Alec. So despite her misgivings, she knew she had to go.

It was late, maybe too late to drop in on him. She had waited till after dinner. She didn't want to impose on him and aside from that, certain foods were disagreeing with her. Raising her hand, she was about to knock when the door swung open.

"Max," he said slightly surprised.

He had a coat over his arm and his car keys were in his hand. She shifted awkwardly, burying her hands in her jacket pockets. "If you're headed somewhere, I'll stop by another time. It's not important."

Logan shook his head. "It is or you wouldn't be here," he said softly. "Come in." He stood back and ushered her inside. Closing the door behind her, he pulled out his cell phone and made a call.

He moved away from her a little as he spoke with the person on the other line. He was doing it for her benefit but with her advanced hearing, he would have had to go into another room and shut the door.

"Something's come up. If I don't see you tonight, I'll catch up with you another time...Okay...Thanks."

"Asha?" Max asked.

Logan nodded. "I haven't seen her in awhile, busy with S1W and the city's been crawling with White's guys. Hard to get out these days."

"I don't want to keep you. It's nothing, really and..."

"Don't Max. I like to think that we're still friends. Just talk to me."

They stood there in a heavy silence for a moment and he ran a hand tiredly though his hair. It was always unkempt looking, and before her fingers itched to ruffle it further or straighten it. Now it just brought memories of another man's hair. How it felt against her fingers, how it smelt under her nose. She bit her lip as tears welled in her eyes.

"Are you okay, Max? You look a little pale. Maybe we should sit down."

The concern in his voice broke thorough her defenses and she couldn't stop a tear from slipping down her cheek.

Wordlessly, he reached out, planted a hand on her back and led her to the couch. He was careful to touch only her jacket, and pulled back from her as soon as she was seated. Anticipating that she was trying to shut him out, Logan crouched on the floor in front of her. At her eye level, she couldn't look anywhere but at him, without doing so obviously. "Tell me what's wrong Max," he urged gently.

Max closed her eyes and swallowed. She counted to ten cleared her head and opened them again. It was surprising how such a simple exercise could bring her back. Some of her Manticore training occasionally came in handy. "I need to find Alec." There was a flicker of hurt in his eyes but it was quickly masked.

"I'll see what I can come up with." Logan stood up and was about to head into the other room when he stopped. "There's more to it isn't there?"

Max shook her head. There was no point lying, he'd find out soon enough. You couldn't hide a growing abdomen forever. She felt stupid for not having acknowledged the possibility sooner. Her clothes had been feeling uncharacteristically tight all week, not taking into account all the other signs her body tried giving her. Part of her argued that she might miscarry and why cause him more hurt over something that might not happen. The other part argued that he would be hurt in the long run either way. He'll help you find Alec and then what...he'll just fade into the background as the loyal and trustworthy friend. In the end it was neither argument that won out, looking into his eyes, she just couldn't bring herself to say the words.

Logan made her hot chocolate and they talked a little more. All small talk. How was Joshua? How was Gem and Missy? What was new in Terminal City? Where they were with White and the National Guard. What was happening on the Eyes Only front. After hours of searching and making various calls, they still came up empty.

Max left in the morning. Logan had persuaded her into spending the night. It was pretty much arrest-on-site, if you were caught outside without special clearance after curfew these days. And it was long past that when they'd finally given the search a rest.

He promised to keep an eye out for anything that might give them a led on Alec. And he made her promise to come by sooner rather than later.


Railway yard, Terminal City

When he tracked her down five months later, Logan immediately figured out why she had been avoiding him. It was glaringly obvious.

"Were you ever planning to tell me?" he bit out.

Max froze. Even if she heard him coming, she would have never been able to out run him. Normally, she would have easily blurred away, and he would not have been able to figure out which way she went. But these days, with a belly the size of a watermelon on growth hormones, and hips spread so wide that she'd been reduced to a penguin waddle, there was no hope in heaven she would have escaped him
.
"La-Logan," she greeted him nervously.

He was furious. "So that's why you wanted me to find him," he pressed angrily.

"No, yes...I don't know," Max threw up her hands and whirled away from him.

Logan grabbed her arm and held her fast. If he'd been thinking straight he would have realized the danger in that action, but he wasn't thinking rationally at the moment. "He couldn't face up to his responsibility, is that it?" he asked his face flushed with emotion.

"No," Max screeched back at him in Alec's defense. "He didn't...he doesn't know."

His grip on her arm loosened and Max yanked her arm away. Three inches lower and she have been seeing him off to the emergency room. They still hadn't found a cure for the virus, and with how dangerously close they'd come to rein-acting his last brush with death, it only confirmed her belief that being around him was like doing the tango on a the edge of a precipice.

Logan shoulders slumped and his arms dropped to his sides. "Why didn't you just tell me?" he asked pointedly.

Max didn't answer. She was still reeling over how poorly he thought of Alec, and that he'd been reckless enough to give her heart palpitations that threatened to explode right out of her chest. She couldn't blame him though when she shared the same fears. Even though Alec didn't know, she had no real defense to offer in his absence. Who knew how he would have reacted.

"My cousin Betsy has a whole lot of baby stuff that she doesn't need anymore. I can pick it up for you if you want it," Logan offered, regretting his tone and wanting to kick himself over acting like a jealous lover. It had been a long time since he'd even be close to being that. If he wanted to be her friend, he had better start acting like a better one.

Max could tell he was still hurt, but she was touched that he was trying to make an effort to reach out to her. So he had been misguided in his judgements but he genuinely seemed to care about her. She relented over her intention to shut him out and sighed. "Thanks Logan. Gem really only had one maternity outfit, and no offense to Missy's bed but I'd like my baby to have a proper cradle."

"Only the best," Logan said with a hopeful smile. "And I came looking for you because I found a lead. It's not much but at least now we've got something to go on."


A dingy bar, Chicago

Alec tossed the coin in the cup, and took a step back. He tossed again, and got it in. He continued doing this till he was on the other side of the bar.

"Okay, I think you proved your point," the bartender said with annoyance. "Here's your ten, now get out of here."

Alec grinned. "Don't be such a sore loser, Jake. How 'bout we play a round of pool? Give you a chance to win it back."

Jake tossed the dishtowel over his shoulder and gave the younger man a exasperated look. "Firstly, I can't leave the bar unattended, so that would be a no. And second, I've seen you play. I'd be the village idiot if said yes."

"Suit yourself," Alec said with a shrug. He was about to walk away from the bar, when a firm hand locked onto his shoulder.

"Well, well, if it isn't 494. You're a long way from your usual haunts. Let's take a ride, what do you say?"

Alec's mouth ran dry. White had found him, in the most over-populated and slummiest part of Chicago of all places. Did the guy's connections have no limits? He felt White half pulling him, and half pushing him to the door. It seems he wasn't getting a choice in the matter.


HQ, Terminal City

Max fell into a chair, her back aching and her feet swollen beyond belief. You'd think she'd just climbed Mt Rainer and back. When in fact she'd only walked the rail yard and back to HQ, after seeing Logan off. Her breathing was labored, and she felt flushed but Doctor Shankar assured her that was normal.

"Your lungs and diaphragm have added pressure on them and less room to expand. Take it easy, don't bend over and you'll be fine."

Easy for you to say, Max wanted to argue. You're not the size of three average people and eating like a horse just to keep the hunger pains away. Her stomach growled, and Max bit her lip. She just ate a plate of fried chicken. A whole chicken to be exact. She could not seriously be hungry again already. There it was again, this time accompanied by a flutter that rippled across the top of her abdomen. It was then that she realized that she didn't feel hungry.

She'd heard the baby move. She almost leapt out of the chair with excitement - if she could have leapt. It was more or less an awkward, highly-undignified, leaning heavily on the desk whilst pulling herself out of the chair without it rolling away from under her, elated movement. Her face bursting with glee she grabbed the nearest person she could find, to share her discovery. Biggs.

"Do you feel it?" she asked, planting his hands on her belly.

Biggs was doing his best to resist touching her at all. With all the mood swings Max had gone though the past few months, you didn't know whether to duck and hide or wear a waterproof vest. And when you weren't in grabbing range, that didn't mean you were safe. Anyone within X5 firing range was a potential target. Particularly, if you were caught looking at her stomach too long - longer than a millisecond - which is why he as trying desperately to avoid it now.

"I don't feel anything. Sorry," he mumbled averting his eyes.

"You're not trying, Biggs. There," she said planting his hands firmly on her belly and holding in place so they where properly touching her. She watched his face, as the baby kicked this time. A look of amazement and fascination crossed his features and she smiled. "See," she said triumphantly.

"Yeah, that was..."

"Joshua!" she squealed. Biggs forgotten, she waddled as quickly as possible to catch her friend and share her news.

Biggs was about to head out to the Mess Hall when Mole called for him. "What is it?" he asked bounding up the stairs to the surveillance desk.

"This," Mole said pointing to the monitor.

"Early this morning, a fight broke out in downtown Seattle. It's just one of the many riots that have been caused by the transgenic crisis in our city. But the trouble is not just isolated to our part of the country. In Chicago, an attempted arrest of a suspected transgenic proved fatal for three of the men involved. The..."

"You don't think..." Mole stared at the television screen. The whole Command Center went silent as images of the smoldering Chicago building glowed on the monitor.

"Isn't that Alec's bike?" Dix pointed out.

Out of the corner of her eye, CeCe notice Max sway and blurred to her side just in time to keep her friend from hitting the concrete floor. "Max," she cried, rocking her gently. "Come on, Max."

Slowly coming out of her dizzy spell, Max stared up at CeCe with unseeing eyes. "Alec," she whispered weakly, before falling unconscious again.

"Hey someone want to give me a hand here," CeCe barked impatiently.

Mole bounded down the stairs and extinguished his cigar between his fingers. "I'll take her."

"Take her to the infirmary. I'll grab Lexie. I saw her in the Mess Hall on the way over. I'll meet you there. Thanks Mole," CeCe said with a concerned glance at Max.

Mole shrugged, picking up the unconscious woman easily. "No problem." He looked at their C.O. He hadn't always felt comfortable around her. Heck, he hadn't ever really liked her. Up until recently. She was a darn good leader. She kept everyone together, freaks and X-series and held the norms at bay. All while carrying a package. A fairly compromising package. To be honest, he was surprised she'd managed without so much as a hiccup for so long. This would be the first time, her condition had actually slowed her down. Not that he'd ever openly admit it, but he'd grown to respect this pocket-sized woman. Well pocket-sized to him. Even witnessing it first hand, he still found it hard to believe that deadly force could be housed in such a small body. But that just proved what freaks those geeks at Manticore were. Genetic tinkering and all.

When he got to the infirmary, CeCe and Lexie were waiting for them.

"Put her on the table, thanks Mole," Lexie said. "She's still not with us?"

She said it more to herself but he answered anyway. "Nope, not a peep. Need me to stick around?"

"We'll take it from here, Thanks Mole," Lexie said with a grateful smile. And without moments delay, she went to work on her patient.

CeCe filled a small dish with cold water and threw it on Max's face.

Max sat up with superhuman speed, coughing and blinking rapidly. She turned on CeCe with a look of shock, which quickly turned into a look of simmering anger.

Lexie scowled at CeCe. "That was unnecessary."

"But it worked didn't it," CeCe argued, carefully moving out of arm's reach from Max.

Encouraging Max to lie back down, Lexie took her blood pressure, and checked her pupils. "Giving yourself a work out today huh?"

"We saw what looked like Alec's bike on the news," CeCe offered levelly, avoiding Max's stare.

"Oh," Lexie answered softly. Helping Max sit up again, she felt the back of her head for bumps.

"I caught her before..." CeCe protested.

"I'm just checking, " Lexie said narrowing her eyes at CeCe. "She fainted, I'm being thorough."

"I thought it was normal for a pregnant woman to faint," CeCe argued numbly to herself.

Max eyed her curiously out of the corner of her eye. One might say that she sounded jealous. No way, why would an X5 want to be pregnant? Max almost laughed. She'd happily trade the sleepless nights, the stretch marks, the oily skin, the swollen ankles...but something told her that wasn't all CeCe was envious over. So she might be raising this baby on her own, but he or she was something she had created with Alec.

And after months of dancing around each other, Biggs and Lexie had finally taken the plunge. Last week Biggs had taken her on a surprise moonlight picnic onto of the Space Needle. All the girls had been gossiping about it for days. Max laughed as she noticed all the guys rolling their eyes in agony.

CeCe was alone. She was in the same unit as Biggs and Alec and it had been Alec who'd found her and brought her to Jam Pony. Maybe she thought that she'd be the one to end up with him...

"I'd say take a nap, put those feet up and see me if you still feel light-headed in the morning," Lexie said with a smile.

"Yes, doc," Max said with a mock salute. She slid off the table and headed for the door. "Oh and by the way, I think Biggs is getting a real feel for this whole breeding thing."

Max chuckled as she dodged the flying dish and closed the door behind her. The warm feeling left her as she recalled the image of the burning building from before. Alec was alive, she would know if he wasn't. She would feel it wouldn't she? Putting her hand on her stomach, the baby moved against her touch and she felt comforted by the knowledge that even though he wasn't with her, a small part of him was.

"Please come back, Alec."

Notes: A few people havetold me that they were confused by Chapter 1 to 3, but nobody offered direct solutions or said why. Thank you Somebody's Dark Angel, firstly for your honesty and secondly, for telling me how to fix the problem. Thanks for the feedback ladies - I'm glad you're enjoying this so far. I'll keep on posting so long as the comments keep coming :o)