Disclaimer: Ok, seriously, do you have an IQ of 0?

A/N: Well let's see what I need to do today. Write 26th chapter of Whose Love, write some chapters for my other stories, have lunch, and go out with Zack later on tonight. Ha! Yeah, right. LOL Please R/R

Max and Zack immediately rushed to Alec's side, Max pausing to grip the table though because the sudden movement had made her dizzy. Once she had stabilized herself, she went into the kitchen for some ice while Zack moved Alec onto the couch.

Max came back and pressed the ice to his forehead which was very hot, so hot in fact the ice had begun to melt.

"What's wrong with him, Zack?" Max asked him worriedly. "What happened?"

Zack checked Alec over, but it didn't seem like anyone had come in and knocked him unconscious so he didn't know. He shrugged and looked at Max but something had caught her attention.

She walked over to the table and picked up the newspaper then brought it over to where Zack and Alec were.

"Maybe it has something to do with this," Max said. She handed the paper to Zack and he started reading bits and pieces aloud.

"Girl named Rachel Berrisford comes to her end after being knocked into a coma 2 years ago by a freak explosion," Zack read. He looked up. "You think that this was one of Alec's missions?" he asked.

Max raised her shoulders. "Maybe. Remember why he wasn't sure if he wanted to come with us when we were planning to escape from Manticore? He said that he had botched a mission and they would kill him if he screwed up again. Maybe this was the mission."

"Well, the girl's almost dead so I don't understand how he screwed up," Zack said.

"He's waking up," Max said. "We can ask him."

"If this made him faint then we'll have to be careful," Zack said. Max nodded and Alec squinted and rubbed at his bleary eyes. He looked at Max and Zack, not knowing what happened, until his gaze fell on the newspaper in Zack's hand.

Flashback

"Rachel!" Alec screamed. "No!"

Flashback

It looks like this is it, the headline read. Rachel Berrisford, daughter of the wealthy Robert Berrisford, is almost at her end. Due to a freak explosion two years before, Mr. Berrisford's darling daughter had been knocked into a coma and hasn't woken up since. Her nurse says that unfortunately, it seems like the end of the road for Rachel is near, and she is expected to pass away in the next week or so. This article is for all who were close to Rachel; family and friends and anyone else who knew Berrisford's daughter. We hope that she passes on peacefully, and that Mr. Berrisford can recover from it. Robert Berrisford's wife had passed away a few years before, so Rachel was all he had left. Our condolences in advance.

Flashback

"Rachel. Oh God no, not Rachel," Alec sobbed.

End Flashbacks

"Rachel," he whispered.

Max and Zack looked at each other.

"What happened, Alec?" Max asked gently. "Does it have anything to do with this Rachel girl?"

He looked at Max, eyes still a bit unfocused.

"Rachel," he whispered again. "She's dying. All my fault," he mumbled.

Max gently laid a hand on his shoulder, but he still jumped. "Why is it all your fault? What happened, Alec?"

Tears were streaming down his face, and as much as he wanted to stop them, he couldn't. They just kept flowing from his eyes, the salt burning his tear cracked lips. He was shaking now, his body convulsing as if he had seizures.

"Rachel. My fault. All my fault. She's dying. All my fault," he kept repeating, almost like he was in a catatonic trance.

Max tried not to get frustrated with the lack of information. "Why's it all your fault? Alec, talk to us. We're here."

After a few more minutes of consoling him, he finally settled down enough to speak properly.

"Water," he said. "Please."

Zack got up and returned with some water in a glass.

"What's wrong Alec?" he asked. "Talk to us. You can tell us anything."

"I can't. It's too hard. I just can't," Alec mumbled.

"Try," Max said. "Take your time. We're not going anywhere."

Alec took a sip of the water and exhaled slowly, trying to compose himself.

"Two years ago," Alec started. "I was sent on a mission to find out how much Robert Berrisford knew about Manticore. I was posing as Rachel's piano teacher, Simon Lehane. At first, it was fine. Find out what Berrisford knew and report it to Manticore. Clean and easy. I never expected to – to fall in love with Rachel. That was when things became complicated. Manticore wanted me to get close to Rachel so that I could get invited over for dinner and such more often, giving me more opportunities to get the info from Berrisford. Then when I reported back to them that Berrisford knew a lot, they." He let out a shaky breath. "They asked me to terminate. Both of them."

Max sucked in her breath sharply and Zack kept listening intently.

"Then what?" he prodded.

"I planted the bomb under the car. The Berrisfords were going on vacation." Alec shrugged. "But I couldn't do it. Berrisford was already in the car. I intercepted Rachel on her way down the stairs. I couldn't waste any time so I told her the truth."

"You told her you were a spy sent to kill her father?" Zack asked. "That must've taken some guts."

Alec nodded. "She slapped me and ran down to the car. I couldn't stop her. I should've tried harder. I should've knocked her out, anything. Maybe she'd hate me but at least she'd be alive. She ran towards the car and all of a sudden the bomb went off. I didn't detonate it, some people from Manticore did. There was a big explosion and I lost it. The people from Manticore dragged me kicking and screaming into the car, and when I got back to Manticore, they told me I had failed my mission and put me in Psy-Ops. That's all I remember. But now she's been slowly dying for two years? I'm a monster. I've been killing her. It's my fault."

Max shook her head furiously. "No, it's not. It's not your fault at all. You did what you could."

"BUT IT WASN'T ENOUGH MAX!" he shouted at her. She fell quiet.

He lowered his head shamefully. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scream at you."

"That's alright," she reassured him.

"You didn't kill her Alec," Zack said. "That wasn't you. That was a programmed killing machine. X5-494 killed her, has been killing her over the past two years. X5-494 has, not you. Simon Lehane and Rachel Berrisford were just innocents caught in a mess."

"Would you like to see her?" Max asked. "You know where she lives, right? We can lure Berrisford away for a while and you can say your goodbye."

Alec looked up with a determined look on his face. "Yes, that's exactly what I'll do."

"Good," Zack said. "Wait; let me get Berrisford away from the house."

"He's got bodyguards too," Alec said.

"No problem," Zack said and he walked off, cell phone in hand.

Max, Zack and Alec, all dressed in their black attire, watched as Berrisford and his guards left to meet someone who would never show up. Then they snuck into the house and Max and Zack quickly located the nurse cooking in the kitchen. They stealthily walked up the stairs to Rachel's bedroom and Max and Zack stayed outside the door for lookout.

Alec went in the room and for a moment his heart stopped beating when he saw Rachel lying in her bed, with the palest face and attached to a bunch of tubes and monitors.

He walked over and kneeled beside her bed. He reverently touched her face and said the words he had wanted to say for so long.

"I love you, Rachel. I should have said them before and now it's too late, but I love you. With all my heart. And I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he said. He caressed her and started sobbing openly.

Zack looked at Max who had tears in her eyes. He opened his arms and pulled her close.

"He doesn't deserve this," Max whispered.

"No he doesn't but Alec's strong," Zack whispered back. "He'll pull himself out of that hole in a few weeks. Only time can heal things like this."

"I hope something like that doesn't happen to us. I hope that when our child is born, no one sends someone to kill us and hurts our baby in the process," Max said.

He turned her around and kissed her. "I won't let anything happen to you or the baby, Maxie. Never."

"I know." They continued to watch Alec through sad eyes.

Two days later, there was another headline in the newspaper.

Rachel Berrisford, daughter of Robert Berrisford, passed away today peacefully. We give our condolences once again to Mr. Berrisford and to all close to this wonderful young woman.

As soon as Max and Zack saw this, they went over to Alec's and comforted him while he cried.

Over the next few weeks, Alec had called in sick and Max and Zack had taken on his share of packages. They always made it a point to stop by his place after work and stay with him, just chatting lightly, never bringing up anything that had happened weeks before.

"So how was work?" Alec asked.

"How do you think it was?" Max asked. "Normal was there. By the way, he misses his Golden Boy."

Alec smirked. "That guy has one serious obsession with my ass. Hey, he's like you Maxie! 'I'll kick your ass if you don't listen to me,' she says."

Zack chuckled and Max hit him lightly.

"Why would I be obsessed with your ass when I have Zack's?" she said grinning, getting the reaction she had wanted from Zack. His face had turned fire engine red.

Alec laughed. "Touché. So, you working as dispatch yet?" he asked.

"Nope," Max said. She looked down at her now fairly big stomach. She was about 3 months along. "But I'm getting there. I just wish I didn't have to blow up like a balloon."

Zack laughed and kissed her. "You look fine, Maxie."

Alec nodded. "Yeah. I guess the saying about pregnant women is true because you really are glowing Maxie."

She beamed. "Thanks."

"Dix translate any runes yet?" Alec asked. They were now appearing and disappearing everywhere all over her body; her arms, hands, legs, back, stomach, everywhere.

"No. But he thinks he's almost cracked the stuff on her back. He just needs a few more days," Zack said.

"I hope he figures it out," Max said. "Because who knows what these runes mean."

"At the same time though, I'm a little scared of what they're gonna say," Alec said.

"Why's that?" Zack asked.

"Who knows why this random stuff is appearing and now of all times," he said. "For all we know, it could be something bad."

They all looked at each other, hoping that it wouldn't be the case.

A/N: Hey guys. Ok, I'm sorry if this chapter sucked. I think it's reeeaaalllyyy bad, but hey. I'll let you decide. I hope you liked this. I really hope you liked this. I really, really…. Ok, I'll stop now. LOL

Thanks to –

Elladans-elleth – Thanks for reviewing! No worry about not reviewing the last chapter, I'm just glad you love this.

shygirl1 – Thanks for reviewing! Alec'll recover, don't worry.