A/N: Finally an update. Sorry about the delay everyone, between work, two kids, and car trouble I've been swamped. I'll try to post another chapter really soon to make up for it. Enjoy!

An X5 By Any Other Name

Alec was whistling as he made his way into the mess hall. He picked up an empty tray and piled it high with bowls of cereal, fruit, toast, scrambled eggs and bacon, coffee, juice, and milk.. His teammates stared at him as he made his way towards their table.

"Man, 494, I knew you had a healthy appetite but this is ridiculous" 411 said as he watched his CO begin to scarf down the food.

"You know, you've got to burn a lot of energy to work of that much food." 275 observed.

"Lots of energy, huh? Hey 494, weren't you and 452 paired off again last night?" 510 wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and grinned from ear to ear.

"You're such a pig, 510" 323 reached over and slapped him upside the head.

"Speaking of 452, where is our illustrious 2IC this morning? You two, usually come to breakfast together." 734 looked around for their Second in Command.

"412 is missing too, Sir." 119 added, trying hard not to blush. He'd heard a commotion in the hallway the night before and stuck his head out just as 412 went flying back to her room.

"412 is sleeping. She'll catch up with us later today. Max had a bad seizure last night so we were all up pretty late." Alec yawned, not realizing that he had just referred to 452 by her real name. Everyone else did though.

"Who's Max?" they all asked, almost in unison. Alec looked up with a panicked expression on his face.

"Max is 452 or rather 452 is Max, take your pick" Six heads whipped around to stare at 734. "We had names, us 09ers, not just designations."

"So you had names, big deal, we've all been out on solo missions before. We had names then too." 275 interrupted.

"Shut up, 275, let her finish" 323 snapped.

"Yeah, but these were OUR names. Names we picked for ourselves, names that represented who we thought we were. Not just another temporary designation assigned to us by Manticore." 734 paused "452 is Max. Mine was Brin. Is Brin" She said with more conviction. She took a deep breath and looked around at her teammates. She'd just revealed something she'd kept secret ever since her capture and she wasn't quite sure how they'd take it.

The team was quiet for a moment, but the silence was broken by the voice of their CO saying "And I'm Alec." Again six heads whipped around. 494 held his head up proudly despite the sudden onslaught of stares. "Max named me last night"

Brin rose and walked towards Alec with her hand outstretched. "Nice to meet you, Alec." she said with a smile. Alec smiled back and shook her hand "Nice to meet you too, Brin."

There was a few seconds of awkward silence as Brin and Alec stared at each other mutually accepting the other's introduction. It was quickly broken though by 510 who drawled "Awwwww, how sweet! I think I'm gonna cry." This time everyone on the team reached out and smacked 510, but he grinned in spite of the abuse. It broke the tension and that's what he had intended so all was good.

Alec picked up his tray which was still half full and said "I'm gonna go check on Max. She's probably getting pretty hungry by now."

Unit 7 waved goodbye and resumed eating. Alec shrugged, then turned to go. "Sir!" Brin called out. Alec paused and turned around again. "Tell Maxie, we'll be by to see her later." He nodded and headed out the door.

Alec knocked on the door of Max's cell, when he didn't get a response he just walked on in. Max wasn't in bed anymore but Alec heard the water running in the shower. Trying desperately to push back the mental picture of a wet, naked Max he called loudly, "Breakfast, Max!"

"I'll be right out" she hollered back, shutting off the shower and quickly toweling off. Oncse she was fully dressed and had her hair brushed back she stepped out of the bathroom. "Yum! Breakfast. I was getting so hungry. Thanks, 494."

Alec grinned as he watched her shoveling food into her mouth at an amazing rate. "494? What happed to Alec?" he teased.

Max nearly choked on her food and Alec had to slap her on the back a few times. She hadn't realized he'd heard her call him by name. When she finished eating Alec took the tray from her and set it on her desk then came back and sat down on the bed facing her.

"So tell me, Max. Why Alec?" he queried.

"It's short for Smart Alec" she replied saucily.

"Ha! I knew it!" he crowed.

Max sobered a little and shyly continued "Listen about the name, Alec is just what I called you when no one else was around. If you don't like it, or if you want to choose something else..."

Alec covered her mouth with his hand and said quietly, "Max, you named me. No one else has ever done that before and it means a lot to me. Understand?"

She nodded and a strand of hair fell across her face. Aled moved his hand to brush it away. God, she is so beautiful, he thought stunned. On impulse he leanded down and covered her lips with his own. Max stiffened for a moment then relaxd into the kiss bring her hands up to cup fhis face. Neither knew how long they'd been kissing ut they wer abruptly pulled back to reality by the sound of someone clearing their throat, loudly. Max and Alec jumped apart and turned towards the door to find the majority of their unit leaning against the wall and door frame grinning at them both.

"Hey, Max, how ya' feeling?" 323 asked cheerfully. Max jumped a little at the familiarity 323 showed and she turned to Alec for an explaination..

"Sorry, it's slipped" he said shrugging apologetically. Max glared at him for a moment.

"Don't worry, baby sister, you're secret is safe with us" Brin said.

"Yeah, we were thinking that we should have names too." 510 said and everyone nodded in agreement.

"Ok, what id you have in mind?" Alec asked turning towards 323.

"Well..." 323 thought for a moment then said, "On one of my first solo missions I worked as a librarian. Whoever made up my background thought it would be funny to call me Paige because of the play on words. I know Manticore chose it, but I've always liked it anyway. Do you think it'd be ok to call myself Paige?" she looked to Max for approval.

"It's your name. You can choose whatever you like." Max said with a smile. She turned to 510, "What about you, any ideas?"

"I was thinking maybe Bond. You know as in Bond, James Bond, the ultimate super spy with a license to kill" He said all this in a horrible imitation of a British accent.

"Ooooh, somebody's got a big head. 275 said goodnaturedly.

"Babe, I've got a big everything, and you should know." 510 smirked as 275's face turned red. They'd been paired up as breeding partners. "Guess, if ya'll really object to Bond, I could always settle for Biggs" he added as an afterthought.

Alec nodded "That's more like it. Your turn, 275."

275 thought about it then shrugged. "Can't think of anything."

"We could always name you Dren." Biggs suggested. At her look of confusion he continued. "It's NERD spelled backwards." He smiled broadly.

"Dren" 275 repeated the name a few times, testing it out. "Yeah, that'll do."

"Hey guys, what's going on?" 412 entered 452's room and was surprised to find the rest of her unit gathered there.

"We all came by to check on Max" 411 states, stepping aside to give 412 a place to stand.

"Ok...who's Max?" 412 echoed the group's previous question.

"I am" she said. "That's my name."

"We're all picking names too." 411 informed 412, filling her in on what she'd missed so far. "494 is Alec, 734 is Brin, 510 is Biggs, 323 is Paige, 275 is Dren, and I'm Jes – short for court jester" Jes grinned at their CO and Max remembered that this was how Alec first introduced her to X5-411.

"Oh cool, what's my name?" 412 asked.

"That's really up to you to choose or you could let someone else pick it if you want, although I don't suggest letting Biggs or Jes do the choosing." 323 added that last part in a loud whisper, fully intending the two boys to overhear. Biggs and Jes both stuck their tongues out at her and she giggled.

"I-I-I wouldn't have any idea what to choose." 412 stammered.

Max smiled gently at the medic, noting her discomfort. "We didn't meant to put you on the spot like that. You don't have to make a decision right now. I've been calling you Meeks because you're always so quiet and mild mannered, but you can take some time and think about it, choose your own name later if you want."

"Actually, I kind of like Meeks." The Medic smiled shyly.

"Meeks it is then." 494 looked around at his unit. It's amazing how quickly they had come to accept and respect Max's opinion. The voice of 119 addressing Max pulled him back to the present.

"Ummm, Max?" 119 began hesitantly. "Do you think maybe you could choose a name for me too?" 119 stared at the floor and shuffled his feet.

"I'd be honored." Max said sincerely. She cocked her head to the side and stared at him thoughtfully. After a minute or two, a sad smile made its way across her face. "Cale" she said quietly "Because you remind me so much of a friend of mine back home. He's a computer whiz too."

119 nodded but didn't say anything else. Neither did Alec although he recognized the significance of the name. He had Max had spent a lot of time talking about her relationship, or lack thereof, with Logan Cale.

Out of the corner of his eye, Alec noticed that Max was trying hard to stifle a yawn and he saw her eyes begin to droop. "Ok everyone. Visiting hours are over. I think Max still needs some rest so let's get out of here. It's time for class anyway. You can stop by again later if you want."

The group said their goodbyes and filed out the door. Alec waited till the last one was gone then turned back to Max. He wanted to talk about what had happened earlier, but Max was already fast asleep. Alec watched her sleep then leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Sleep tight, Maxie!"