Chapter Ten

Max unconsciously raised her hand to knock on the door. She stopped herself when her fist was only an inch away. She rolled her eyes as she turned the knob.

"I almost live here anyway. And since when do I knock under any circumstance other than delivering packages?" she mumbled to herself as she stepped into the apartment. She expected to see Spike still sitting on the couch watching tv, or in the kitchen drinking his blood. But he wasn't.

"Of course, stupid," she stated aloud. "He just went back to sleep like you asked him to."

But when she opened the doors to the bedroom, the bed was neatly made. No sign of Spike except his lingering scent. Max smiled slightly as she breathed it in. The smile soon disappeared when she realized Spike wasn't there.

Don't get all worried. Spike is fine, she thought. I'm sure of it. She took a deep breath before frowning.

But where is he fine?


"It's bollocks, Angel! Your brand of bollocks from the first to last!"

"No, you never see the big picture!" Angel shot back. "You can't see any picture!"

"I am talking about something primal. Right? Savagery. Brutal animal instinct."

"And that wins out every time with you. Ya know, the human race has evolved, Spike!" Angel yelled into his face before walking away. Spike followed him making mocking gestures.

"Oh, into a bunch of namby-pamby, self-analyzing wankers who could never hope to..."

"We're bigger. We're smarter," Angel interrupted. "Plus there's a thing called teamwork, not to mention the superstitious terror of your aggressors!"

"You just want it to be the way you want it to be," Spike argued stubbornly.

"It's not about what I want!" Angel yelled. The sound of someone clearing their throat caused the two vampires to step away from each other in embarrassment. They turned to see Wesley standing in the doorway with a slightly amused expression.

"Is this a topic that we all should be discussing?" he asked.

"No," Angel replied quickly. "It was mostly...theoretical. We..." Spike seemed to get over his embarrassment first.

"Look, if cavemen and astronauts got into a fight, who would win?" he asked as he crossed his arms and looked expectantly at Wesley.

"Ah. You've been yelling at each other for 40 minutes over this?" Wesley asked dubiously. Angel looked down, avoiding his gaze while Spike simply stared at him, still wanting an answer. Wesley's expression turned pensive. "Do the astronauts have weapons?"

"No," Angel and Spike chorused. Wesley seemed to be considering this when Faith and Alec walked in.

"What's the what?" Faith asked casually. Spike, Angel, and Wesley just stared at them. Faith rolled her eyes. "We're really bored, alright? There wasn't much to do after..." She smiled coyly and exchanged a look with Alec. Wesley cleared his throat, opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, and simply left the room.

"Hello to you too!" Alec called after him. Spike suddenly brightened.

"Hey, if cavemen and astronauts got into a fight..."


Fred carefully inspected the sarcophagus, thankful that Knox had left the room. It's not as if she hated the guy. He was sweet. But...he wasn't Wesley. A smile formed on her face. How could she not have had feelings for Wesley before? He was perfect for her. They both had the same interests, laughed at the same things, cared about the same things. She had finally met her dream man.

"Hey Fred?" Max's sudden voice caused her to jump and let out a small squeak of surprise. The female transgenic looked guilty. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sneak up on you. You just looked so lost in thought." Fred shook her head, still smiling.

"It's fine, Max. Can I help you with something?" she asked as she continued to examine the sarcophagus.

"Um...yeah. Have you seen Spike around?" Something in Max's voice caused Fred to look at her with concern.

"Yes, actually. He went with Wesley, Angel, and me to a demon lair. Didn't he tell you?" Max gave her head a single shake. "Oh. Well...um...I'm sure he didn't mean to not tell you, or make you worry, but..."

"Oh, I'm not worried," Max interrupted hastily. Fred raised an eyebrow in disbelief. But Max seemed to determined not to tell her what was going on. "I was just wondering where he was. Thanks."

"Uh, sure," Fred replied as she turned back to the sarcophagus. "I think Spike is here now. Probably in Angel's office." She stared at the end of the sarcophagus where the iris was located. She reached out tentatively toward one of the crystals that decorated the surface.

"Thanks again," Max said, forcing herself to give Fred a smile even though she felt far from happy. "I'll look there." She was about to leave when Fred gently touched her fingertips to a purple crystal. Before either woman could react, the iris opened, letting out a gust of air right into their faces. They both gasped and stepped back, coughing.

"What the hell was that?" Max asked once both of their coughing fits had subsided. Fred shook her head in shock.

"I-I don't know," she replied. "Are you okay?" Max nodded slowly.

"Yeah. You?"

"Uh, I think so." Fred stared at the sarcophagus, clearly still frightened. "That was odd." Max nodded in agreement.


Spike exited Angel's office with a smug smirk on his face. He knew he was right. Cavemen would beat any bloody astronaut in a fight. 'Specially if it was John Glenn. His smirk suddenly fell off his face as a very familiar scent reached his nose. A second later he saw the source round a corner and walk towards him. He swallowed and stopped walking, waiting for her to reach him.

But Max seemed deep in thought and didn't even acknowledge him until she came to a sudden stop in front of Angel's office and whirled around to face him.

"There you are," she breathed. Spike's brow furrowed as he immediately noticed that she was stressed out.

"You were looking for me, pet?" Max twitched slightly and the previous vulnerability was gone.

"Of course," she snapped. Spike flinched at her tone. "I came home this morning and you were gone. You didn't tell me you were going anywhere." Spike clenched his jaw, trying not to get too frustrated.

"Left in a hurry," he bit out. "Didn't think you'd mind much since you'd already been gone a while." Max seemed to tense even more and opened her mouth to say something. She quickly shut it as the sound of Wesley shouting pushed the issue aside.

"Someone get medical NOW!" Max and Spike exchanged worried looks and ran past the other people milling around. Confusion and alarm was shown clearly on their faces.

When they reached the staircase, Max and Spike came to an abrupt halt. Lorne and Wesley were holding onto an unconscious Fred.

"Oh my god..." Max breathed before rushing up the stairs. She knelt down beside them. "What happened?" Wesley drew in a shaky breath. His expression wastwistedwith anger anddespair as he shook his head.

"I don't know. Sh-she sang...she coughed up blood and...collapsed." He gently brushed a lock of hair away from Fred's face. Max bit her lip.

"They let us go...they said we were fine..." she muttered, her eyes wide with shock.

"What are you going on about?" Spike asked, his tone was carefully even but his eyes had a slightly gold glint to them. Max ignored him.

"We have to get her back to medical," she stated.

"Our thoughts exactly, cupcake," Lorne agreed as he gently helped put Fred into Wesley's arms.

When they reached the top of the stairs, Wesley and Lorne hurried away with Fred but Spike roughly pulled Max aside.

"What did you mean they let you go?" he asked. "What happened to you and Fred?" Max looked up at him. Her brown eyes were filled with unshed tears. Her sadness softened Spike's approach. He opened his mouth to say something else but Max cut him off.

"Not now," she said through gritted teeth. Then she turned and jogged after the others. Spike didn't waste any time following after her.

He knew she was hiding something from him. Whatever had hurt Fred might eventually happen to Max. He felt infuriatingly helpless without all the info. He needed to do something, but he had to know about Fred's condition first.


When Fred finally woke up, everyone was crowded around her hospital bed. Wesley was immediately by her side as her eyes fluttered open.

"It's my boys..." she said. Despite her tired appearance, she was smiling. She noticed Max, Faith, and Buffy around her bed as well. "And some girls..."

"You gave us quite a scare Freddles," Lorne stated.

"Yeah," Angel agreed. "You just need to rest. The lab is doing some blood work." Fred suddenly frowned.

"I'm a mummy aren't I?" Spike shook his head.

"I've fought plenty of mummies, and none of 'em were as pretty as you. Almost none." Max briefly glanced at him but didn't say anything. Fred rolled her eyes.

"Now y'all are being too comforting. What's really going on?"

"You're sick. And you're making it worse by worrying," Gunn replied.

"We've got that sarcophagus under scope," Knox added. "If it gave you anything, we'll isolate it in a few hours." Fred's eyes suddenly widened.

"Wait," she looked over at Max. "You breathed it in too." Max fidgeted uncomfortably as everyone stared at her in surprise.

"You breathed in that mummy dust?" Buffy asked. Max blew out a sigh and nodded. She glanced at Spike, who was clenching his jaw so hard it was a wonder he didn't shatter it.

"Why didn't you say something?" Alec questioned softly.

"Because the medical people let me go," Max replied, almost defensively. "And so far I haven't coughed up any blood or collapsed."

"How could you not tell us?" Angel glared at her.

"I just said why," Max snapped angrily. "Fred's the one it seems to have hurt the most. I haven't shown any of the same symptoms so stop getting all 'Detective' on me and pay attention to who the freaking mummy dust actually injured!" She sighed heavily and turned to Fred, who was just looking at her with sympathy. "I'm sorry, Fred. I hope you get better and we'll do everything we can to make that happen as soon as possible." Before Fred could respond, Max walked out of the room.

Alec and Faith exchanged a look and Alec quickly went after her. Spike made a move to go as well, but Faith gently stopped him. He let out a low growl.

"Alec's known the girl longer, Spike," Faith stated firmly. "She's just freaking out. Let the transgenic cool down a bit." Something that looked a lot like hurt flashed across Spike's face before he quickly hid it.


"You're scared."

Max stopped walking and froze, but didn't turn around.

"Does that come as a shock to you?" she replied coldly.

"Nope. You'd have to be a blundering idiot not to be scared," Alec joked. Max didn't respond.

"Does that make me human?" she asked bitterly. Alec winced. "I'll take that as a no."

"Max..."

"No. We aren't human, Alec. We'll never be normal. No matter how hard we try. There'll always be that little nagging fact behind everything. We're mutants."

"Everyone's got problems," Alec shrugged nonchalantly. Max scoffed and shook her head.

"Not like ours. No one has the same problems as us. They can never understand."

"How can you be so sure?" Max finally whirled around to face him. Alec was shocked to see tears in her eyes, which were bright with anger.

"Ever try explaining our experiences to anyone?" she snapped. "Ever tell someone about having your body cut open while you're still awake 'just to see how long it'll take you to recover'? Do they beg you to explain how intense, cruel, and terrifying our 'training' was? Do they listen to your detailed description of what psy-ops was like or how you can snap a 300 pound quarterback with just your thumb and index finger? Do they just nod and go 'hey, ya know, I can do that too'?" Alec watched her hysterical rant with a blank expression. "Do they?"

"Just because they can't directly relate to what we went through doesn't mean they don't understand," Alec stated calmly. Max made a huffing noise and turned away. Alec sighed and scratched the back of his head as he stared at her retreating back. A perplexed expression formed on his face. "What does being a transgenic have to do with keeling over from mummy dust?" Max just flipped her hand in a dismissive gesture as she kept walking. Alec blurred forward and grabbed her arm. "Max. Answer the question."

Max hung her head so her hair fell around her face like a curtain. Alec couldn't read her expression. She didn't want to answer him.

"Max," he repeated softly, still holding onto her arm. She started to pull away and he just tightened his grip.

"Max. Tell me," he stated firmly. Max made a sniffling noise.

"Immunity," she finally said. Her voice was so quiet, even Alec had to strain to hear her. "Sandeman made me immune. To everything. Remember? That's how we won the war with the Familiars. I was the cure, supposedly. We never got that far in the war, though, did we? We never saw their dream-our nightmare-come true. We stopped it."

"What does that..." Alec began but Max cut him off.

"Snake poison," she continued. "That was how they initiated new Familiars, right?"

"Yeah..." Alec replied slowly, still not getting it.

"Remember when they tried to poison some transgenics? And they all eventually got better?" Alec nodded. "Well, they tested me when I got captured that one time." He nodded again. "Nothing happened. I was completely immune. Because Sandeman made me that way." Her voice cracked on these last words and Alec tried tostep closer toher but she shrugged him off.

"I still don't get what being immune to snake poison has to do with the current situation." Max laughed bitterly.

"I don't have any junk DNA. I'm completely immune to everything. I can't get sick. I can't be poisoned." Alec's brow furrowed.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Max didn't respond. "I don't get it. Are you scared that your immunity won't come in to play with this mummy thing? Or are you upset that it already defeated it?"

"You're right," Max stated softly. "You don't get it."

"Then explain it to me," Alec demanded.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because..."

"Because why?"

"I'm not human!" Max practically shrieked as she finally spun around to face him. A single tear trailed down her left cheek and her lower lip was quivering. "No matter what happens with this mummy virus thing...I'm not human." Alec stared at her, still confused. "Either it kills me and boom. I'm dead. As in no longer living. I don't exist." She took a deep breath and ran a shaky hand through her hair as she stared unblinkingly at the floor. "Or I stay exactly as I am. Not even a little nosebleed from it. As in...not normal." She looked up at Alec and tightened her jaw. "While Fred croaks."

She suddenly burst into tears and Alec quickly gathered her into his arms. Max clung to his jacket as if her life depended on it, her sobs continuing to rack her body. Alec rested his cheek on her head and pressed a soft kiss into her hair.

"Maxie..." he began after her sobs had quieted. "It doesn't matter if you're immune to this thing or not."

"How can you say that?" she questioned, her voice sounding muffled since her face was pressed against his chest.

"Because it's true," Alec continued, gently stroking her hair. "Just because we were made in a lab doesn't mean we aren't human. We have superhuman strength, I know. But hey, so do Buffy and Faith. And they're still human."

"They can still be poisoned, though," Max pointed out meekly. Alec chuckled softly.

"That's true also. But the fact that you can't be just means you're very strong. Which you already know, of course, since you can so easily kick my ass," he added jokingly. Max let out a quiet laugh.

"Really?" she asked, still unsure. Alec grinned and pulled away so he could see her expression. Her face was tear-stained and a little blotchy, but her brown eyes were regaining their glow. Alec's grin widened as he placed both of his hands on either side of her face.

"Yes," he replied, his tone showing exactly how certain he was. "You're a strong, beautiful woman and are one of the most human people I've ever known, Maxie."

Max finally returned his smile.

"Don't call me that," she joked softly. Alec laughed, pressing another soft kiss on her forehead as he gave her a hug.

"Do you know you look like a drowned rat right now?" he joked as he slung an arm around her shoulder. Max scoffed and playfully punched him in the stomach. The sound of someone clearing their throat caused both transgenics to look up.

Spike was standing a few yards away with a very blank expression on his face.

"There's a meeting going on. Concernin' Fred's condition," he stated, his tone just as neutral and even as his face.

"Where?" Alec asked.

"They're in the lobby." Alec nodded and turned to Max, silently asking her if she was ready to go. She gave him a pointed look.

Spike watched this exchange and struggled not to overact or show his jealousy.

"I'll meet you guys there," Max explained. "I need to fix my 'drowning rat' face first." Alec smirked and nodded.

"See ya soon then." His smile turned comforting as he gave her hand a quick squeeze. Max sent him a grateful look in return before she walked away.

"Lobby's the next stop, then?" Alec asked cheerfully. Spike tried not to show too much contempt for the young transgenic in the glare he gave him.

"Yeah," he bit out before heading towards the lobby.

Alec blew out a sigh as he scratched the back of his head.

Just my luck that I comfort my friend only to get her vampire boyfriend mad at me...Alec thought bitterly. He glanced between Max and Spike's retreating backs. But why do I have the feeling what just happened isn't their only problem?


The others were already gathered around in a loose circle by the time Max came back. Everyone except Alec looked at her with wary eyes. Alec just gave her a small smile.

"So what do we know about Fred's condition?" Max asked.

"Whatever she's got doesn't match up with any of the pathogens in our archives. It's mystical, and it's not ours," Knox replied.

"What about the sarcophagus?" Angel asked.

"My team is cross-checking the symbols, but it's also new territory for us," Wesley answered.

"Angel, what exactly is happening to her? You talked to the doctor..." Gunn began.

"They have something?" Wesley questioned eagerly. Angel nodded solemnly.

"Yeah. Uh...Some parasite agent is working it's way through. I mean, as near as they can tell..."

"Get to the point," Wesley interrupted. Angel sighed heavily.

"Her organs are cooking. In a day's time, they'll liquefy," he explained sadly. A beat passed as everyone tried to digest this, looks of horror passing over their faces.

"No," Buffy suddenly stated firmly. "Not this girl. Not today."

"You hardly even know her," Gunn replied heatedly. Buffy's green eyes bored into him.

For a tiny blonde thing she sure is scary...

"It doesn't matter if I'm not buddy-buddy with Fred. All I have to know is she's a good person with a good heart and she needs our help," Buffy snapped.

"Wes, you gotta tell me what was in that box," Angel said quickly, wanting to stop the argument before it really started. "I need a name, a history...anything."

"We can't get it open," Knox stated. "Not even the lasers..."

"Where did it come from?" Wesley cut him off.

"It just showed up. No return address," Knox explained. "Didn't recognize the guy that brought it in...in the middle of the night."

"This was deliberate?" Max questioned, her tone very hostile.

"Sounds like it," Faith muttered disgustedly.

"Senior partners?" Lorne asked.

"Doesn't add up," Gunn replied. "But I'll hit the White Room. Talk to the conduit."

"What about Doyle-uh, Lindsey?" Spike suggested. "The man likes to play his games." Angel nodded.

"I was looking to work the streets, and we've got his address. For all we know, he's sitting there laughing. And if there's muscle work to do..."

"Then let's make it twice as fast," Spike stated

"And baby makes three-in case anybody feels like singing," Lorne added.

"I'm coming with you," Buffy and Max chorused. They glanced at each other.

"We're coming with you," they mended. Angel hesitated.

"Max...we still don't know if this thing is going to affect you the same way it has Fred..." he began.

"It won't," Max replied quickly. The others looked at her in disbelief.

"You can't be sure of that, luv," Spike retorted, locking eyes with her for the first time in a while. The corners of Max's mouth hitched up a quarter of an inch.

"I can," she stated firmly. "I'll be fine." Angel finally nodded but turned towards Buffy.

"I'm going," Buffy growled before he could protest further. "I'm going. I'm helping Fred. I don't give a crap what you think, Angel. You may be the boss here but I'm stilla Slayer. I make my own decisions. Deal with it." Angel's eyes flashed gold for a millisecond before they reverted to their usual brown.

"Fine," he bit out.

"I'll need to stop by my hotel to tell Dawn what's going on and pick up some weapons," Buffy continued.

"I'll go with you," Max offered. Buffy nodded in agreement.

"We'll see you back here then?" Spike confirmed. They nodded.

"We'll stay here and help Wesley," Faith announced, indicating her and Alec.

"Okay. Everyone knows what they're doing. Guys..." Angel began.

"You don't have to say it," Wesley said softly.

"I will anyways...Winifred Burkle. Go."

Everyone headed off in separate directions.

A/N-I'm not sure how many people are reading this story and actually liking it...According to my stats over 100 people are at least glancing at it. But I haven't been getting a lot of reviews lately. I don't know if that means people are starting to read it, hating it, and then not finishing it, or they just don't review. It would be very helpful to me and much appreciated if you review this story. Whether it's just to say you like the story or the story sucks...I'm welcome to any suggestions you may have ;o) If there's something specific that you think I should do to make this story better, let me know. I don't have a lot of experience in writing so anything you say can help. Thanks! ;o)

RavynJensen-Thanks ;o) I don't think they'll be showing up in this fic but if I decide to do another sequel that sounds like a very good idea. Thanks for suggesting it ;o)

Delauro-Thanks ;o) I'm glad you're enjoying it.

screaminheathen69-Lol. Thanks ;o)