I pace his apartment nervously. "'Go to my apartment Max' he says; stupid
idiot. What the hell is going on?" I mutter darkly, entering his kitchen.
"If I have to wait, I'm eating his food." I declare needlessly.
As I begin to munch on my cereal, the door opens and Alec comes in behind a petite brunette. I smirk. "It's customary to bring your random girls home with you when your new girlfriend isn't at your apartment Alec." I call out.
He smirks right back. "I didn't." He nods toward the small girl and I glance at her briefly, then look back at her incredulously.
"You're kidding me, right?" I look to him for confirmation.
"Max, I'd like you to meet X5-453. Sam, this is Max."
"They cloned me too?"
"Honestly Maxie, I think they cloned you first." He grins.
"Gee, thanks."
"No, really. Your designations are earlier than Ben's and mine. They cloned you first."
"Could you get to the point?" Sam interrupts.
"Am I that bossy?" I ask Alec sharply.
He raises an eyebrow. "I refuse to answer that on the grounds that it will incriminate me." He smiles lightly.
"Ass." I mutter.
"Again with the ass Maxie? We're going to have to work on that."
Well, it is very nice...
"Seriously. My family is being held against their will by a crazed out NSA guy." Sam cuts in.
"Right." Alec acknowledges, and turns back to me. "So, Sam here got picked up by our favorite person in San Francisco yesterday."
"Why was that not the first thing you told me?" I ask.
"You distracted me, said they cloned you 'too', but you were cloned first. You're older than me."
"By approximately twenty minutes smart-ass." I shove his torso a bit and lean into him.
"Would you two please focus?" Sam shouts.
Alec clears his throat, and meets my eyes. "Yeah, so, she's supposed to track you down and bring you in."
"Naturally your first thought was therefore 'I'll introduce them'." I deadpan.
"No." he states. "First I took her to your apartment."
I smile a bit. "You took another girl to my apartment?"
"Would my repeating that she's your clone sent to capture you and bring you into White help my case at all?"
"Possibly. But I'd still have to kick her ass for taking my man."
"Your man? That's new."
"You thought I meant something else this morning?"
"Are the two of you always like this?" Sam cuts in quickly.
I glance over at her. "Only on Tuesdays."
"Maxie, it's Thursday." Alec interjects.
"I suppose we really are always like this then. That thing with –
"We'll just have to be more forceful."
"I'm sorry but I really need the two of you to focus. Otherwise I really will just –
"We can't do anything about it until tomorrow Sam." Alec says softly. "I wish we could do it tonight, but there just isn't enough time to get everything in place before then."
"Everything in place for what, exactly?" she asks.
"I swear to god Alec, if this involves me posing as a stripper again –
"Only if you want it to." He smiles down at me warmly.
I bite my lip. "Some other time." I smile at his expression. "So the old steel plant?"
"Best place to find a heavy pipe to crack Amesy in the head with."
"Holy shit." Sam mutters darkly. "I can't believe you did that right in front of me. Now I know."
I look at her nervously, tensing next to Alec a bit. "How did you guess?" I ask softly.
"Yeah, it took me two whole days to figure out she knew that's what she was doing." Alec grins.
"You were trained for it 494. I wasn't." she looks at me. "That's how you stayed hidden for as long as you did; off the radar. You're alpha." She whispers.
"Don't tell Zack." I mutter darkly.
"Zack didn't know?" Alec asks.
"He never needed to. And I never bothered to use it either."
"You were never trained though."
I lock eyes with Alec, and he nods. "They started communication training for the X5s who displayed alpha traits when we were about three. By the time we were six, they were helping us integrate into the established structures. We were under orders not to use our advantages unless it was tactically necessary to have the unit completely under control."
Alec looks at Sam. "She escaped about six months before the oldest X5s began to display symptoms of heat. When she left, none of us had made ourselves known to our units. We were all SICs."
"My shark DNA was causing seizures; seratonin deficiencies. My CO made the decision to get me out, and it didn't make tactical sense to override him, because by his reasoning, it was to get me out." I pause. "As soon as my first heat was over, I started searching for Zack; I knew he would know how to get in touch with the others. When he finally found me, he informed me he had them all isolated around the country; they weren't all together. So long as they weren't too close together, I knew they would be fine. I didn't bother telling him what I knew."
"I still can't believe that you were able to do it so seamlessly." She pauses. "You're an 09er. You're supposed to be ignorant."
I smile. "Because they told you so in a room with a projector?" I ask.
"They told us that for twelve years...I mean, they never said anything specifically about you until about ten months before you were recaptured, but –
"They didn't know where I was Sam. They didn't even know I was still alive until Ben..." I trail off. "He was too far gone. I couldn't get through to him. I never forgave Zack for keeping them from me after that night."
Alec turns to Sam. "Back to the matter at hand. We'll meet up with you at the plant tomorrow at midnight. You'll make the call, and I'll tie you up."
"Why should you get to fight him?"
"Because I can focus on the task. It's not my family at risk."
"Right." She agrees. "Why so late?"
"He's seen Max's DNA workup. He knows you wouldn't be able to get the drop on her unless it was dark."
"If he's seen –
"You're not twins Sam, you're clones. She's alpha, you're not. There are specific sequences that she has that you don't."
"Such as?"
"That's none of your business." I say calmly. "Lay low, we'll see you tomorrow night at the plant."
"Right." She nods, and leaves.
"You've seen my DNA workup, haven't you?" I ask him softly.
"I have." He admits.
"What does it mean?"
"I don't know Max." he says softly. "I recognized the alpha feline sequences, most of your feline DNA is either lioness or tigress; a small amount of panther. Similar to my own actually. I do know that I've always had this urge to protect you. Keep you safe."
"Right." I settle in against him. "We should get back." I mutter softly.
His arms wrap around me lightly. "Probably. If we don't get those packages out and head into the office Normal's gonna fire your cute butt."
I grin up at him and touch our lips lightly. "Then let's get gone."
****
As I begin to munch on my cereal, the door opens and Alec comes in behind a petite brunette. I smirk. "It's customary to bring your random girls home with you when your new girlfriend isn't at your apartment Alec." I call out.
He smirks right back. "I didn't." He nods toward the small girl and I glance at her briefly, then look back at her incredulously.
"You're kidding me, right?" I look to him for confirmation.
"Max, I'd like you to meet X5-453. Sam, this is Max."
"They cloned me too?"
"Honestly Maxie, I think they cloned you first." He grins.
"Gee, thanks."
"No, really. Your designations are earlier than Ben's and mine. They cloned you first."
"Could you get to the point?" Sam interrupts.
"Am I that bossy?" I ask Alec sharply.
He raises an eyebrow. "I refuse to answer that on the grounds that it will incriminate me." He smiles lightly.
"Ass." I mutter.
"Again with the ass Maxie? We're going to have to work on that."
Well, it is very nice...
"Seriously. My family is being held against their will by a crazed out NSA guy." Sam cuts in.
"Right." Alec acknowledges, and turns back to me. "So, Sam here got picked up by our favorite person in San Francisco yesterday."
"Why was that not the first thing you told me?" I ask.
"You distracted me, said they cloned you 'too', but you were cloned first. You're older than me."
"By approximately twenty minutes smart-ass." I shove his torso a bit and lean into him.
"Would you two please focus?" Sam shouts.
Alec clears his throat, and meets my eyes. "Yeah, so, she's supposed to track you down and bring you in."
"Naturally your first thought was therefore 'I'll introduce them'." I deadpan.
"No." he states. "First I took her to your apartment."
I smile a bit. "You took another girl to my apartment?"
"Would my repeating that she's your clone sent to capture you and bring you into White help my case at all?"
"Possibly. But I'd still have to kick her ass for taking my man."
"Your man? That's new."
"You thought I meant something else this morning?"
"Are the two of you always like this?" Sam cuts in quickly.
I glance over at her. "Only on Tuesdays."
"Maxie, it's Thursday." Alec interjects.
"I suppose we really are always like this then. That thing with –
"We'll just have to be more forceful."
"I'm sorry but I really need the two of you to focus. Otherwise I really will just –
"We can't do anything about it until tomorrow Sam." Alec says softly. "I wish we could do it tonight, but there just isn't enough time to get everything in place before then."
"Everything in place for what, exactly?" she asks.
"I swear to god Alec, if this involves me posing as a stripper again –
"Only if you want it to." He smiles down at me warmly.
I bite my lip. "Some other time." I smile at his expression. "So the old steel plant?"
"Best place to find a heavy pipe to crack Amesy in the head with."
"Holy shit." Sam mutters darkly. "I can't believe you did that right in front of me. Now I know."
I look at her nervously, tensing next to Alec a bit. "How did you guess?" I ask softly.
"Yeah, it took me two whole days to figure out she knew that's what she was doing." Alec grins.
"You were trained for it 494. I wasn't." she looks at me. "That's how you stayed hidden for as long as you did; off the radar. You're alpha." She whispers.
"Don't tell Zack." I mutter darkly.
"Zack didn't know?" Alec asks.
"He never needed to. And I never bothered to use it either."
"You were never trained though."
I lock eyes with Alec, and he nods. "They started communication training for the X5s who displayed alpha traits when we were about three. By the time we were six, they were helping us integrate into the established structures. We were under orders not to use our advantages unless it was tactically necessary to have the unit completely under control."
Alec looks at Sam. "She escaped about six months before the oldest X5s began to display symptoms of heat. When she left, none of us had made ourselves known to our units. We were all SICs."
"My shark DNA was causing seizures; seratonin deficiencies. My CO made the decision to get me out, and it didn't make tactical sense to override him, because by his reasoning, it was to get me out." I pause. "As soon as my first heat was over, I started searching for Zack; I knew he would know how to get in touch with the others. When he finally found me, he informed me he had them all isolated around the country; they weren't all together. So long as they weren't too close together, I knew they would be fine. I didn't bother telling him what I knew."
"I still can't believe that you were able to do it so seamlessly." She pauses. "You're an 09er. You're supposed to be ignorant."
I smile. "Because they told you so in a room with a projector?" I ask.
"They told us that for twelve years...I mean, they never said anything specifically about you until about ten months before you were recaptured, but –
"They didn't know where I was Sam. They didn't even know I was still alive until Ben..." I trail off. "He was too far gone. I couldn't get through to him. I never forgave Zack for keeping them from me after that night."
Alec turns to Sam. "Back to the matter at hand. We'll meet up with you at the plant tomorrow at midnight. You'll make the call, and I'll tie you up."
"Why should you get to fight him?"
"Because I can focus on the task. It's not my family at risk."
"Right." She agrees. "Why so late?"
"He's seen Max's DNA workup. He knows you wouldn't be able to get the drop on her unless it was dark."
"If he's seen –
"You're not twins Sam, you're clones. She's alpha, you're not. There are specific sequences that she has that you don't."
"Such as?"
"That's none of your business." I say calmly. "Lay low, we'll see you tomorrow night at the plant."
"Right." She nods, and leaves.
"You've seen my DNA workup, haven't you?" I ask him softly.
"I have." He admits.
"What does it mean?"
"I don't know Max." he says softly. "I recognized the alpha feline sequences, most of your feline DNA is either lioness or tigress; a small amount of panther. Similar to my own actually. I do know that I've always had this urge to protect you. Keep you safe."
"Right." I settle in against him. "We should get back." I mutter softly.
His arms wrap around me lightly. "Probably. If we don't get those packages out and head into the office Normal's gonna fire your cute butt."
I grin up at him and touch our lips lightly. "Then let's get gone."
****