Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own anything.

A/N: Ok, next chapter! Um… don't know what else to say. Hope you like it, and thanks for all the reviews!

Chapter 9: Tragedy

Logan sat at his computer in Sandeman's old house, typing away busily, when Max came into the doorway. She was so quiet, and he was so absorbed in his work, as usual, that he didn't hear her, but after a moment he sensed her and turned around. 'Hey you.' He said as he noticed how lost she looked; her eyes weren't focused on anything in particular. It had taken her two days to finally get up the courage to come here, she didn't know what was stopping her, she had been waiting for this moment for over a year. But when Alec had given her the cure that night, everything had stopped for her, and she had suddenly felt like her life was over, when really it should have been just beginning. She hadn't even tried to decipher these feelings, choosing instead to simply push them to the back of her mind, to be dealt with later. But when is later? Eventually? Next week, next month, when? STOP! Ok, just talk to Logan, think about the rest later.

'Hey yourself.' She answered after a moment, still not looking him in the eye.

'So, what's up? I mean, it's gotta be pretty risky, leaving TC right now, alone.' Max didn't miss the emphasis on the last word, and very quickly became irritated that he thought she had come with someone, or more specifically, with Alec. Although he would assume, considering he still thinks we're together. But as if I need Alec to baby sit me 24/7. Ok, stop! Get to the point! Just tell him about the cure.

'Yeah, well, if Alec can do it, so can I.' She stopped as she realised what she had said, and shock crossed her face so quickly that Logan didn't pick it up. Must not think about Alec… and Alec's lips… snap out of it Max! 'Anyway,' she continued 'a couple of days ago, he, uh, he and Bree snuck out of TC, to, uh, pick up something. It was something… for me…' She didn't know how to continue. Logan nodded his head and turned back to his computer.

'Ok.' Was all he said, his back to her now. Typical, I try to talk to him about something non-Eyes Only related, and he turns his back on me. Wow! Where did that come from? I knew I should've talked to OC before I did this. Why don't I ever listen to myself? God, still crazy! Still talking to myself!

'He gave me the cure, Logan. He gave me the cure! He tracked down a scientist he knew back at Manticore, who happened to be the same guy who made me the virus, and he had a cure made for me. I had it tested at TC, it's the real deal. I already took it, yesterday, so it's had time to kick in.' He stared at her, disbelief covering his face, then joy. He jumped up, and she could hear his exoskeleton whirring. Uh, I hate that thing! Ok, that was weird, why am I so annoyed by Logan all of a sudden? But she didn't have time to think it through, as she was wrenched out of her thoughts by Logan reaching for her face and pulling her close for a kiss. She stood there, unresponsive for a minute, until she snapped back to reality and shoved him away. Ugh! As if he just did that! Wait… isn't this what I've been waiting for?

'Logan!' she yelled at him. She knew it was a lie, but as far as Logan knew, she was with Alec, in a very happy relationship.

'Max, I thought… I mean, you and Alec, you made that up, didn't you? I know you did. He told me, the day you brought us home from TC, right before he left here, he told me the truth. That you'd made it up, to protect me.' As he said this, Max was suddenly overcome by the urge to punch his face. Ok, this is so not how I imagined this happening. I thought this was what I wanted? What is wrong with me?

'So you just kissed me? What…?' But her rant was cut short by Logan's cell ringing. He picked it up, and she saw his surprise as he noticed the number.

'Alec?' he asked into the phone, sounding very annoyed. Alec?

'Hey Logan, I'm guessing Max is there?' Alec's voice came through the phone.

'Yeah, she's here. What do you want, Alec?' He asked, irritation coating his voice at the interruption, and he tried to end the conversation.

'Tell Max to be outside, on her bike, ready to go in 5 minutes. We've got trouble in Sector three. 5 minutes!' And with that, Alec hung up the phone. Logan closed his phone and looked up at Max.

'Alec's on his way, said he'd be here in 5 minutes. Looks like you've got a problem, in Sector three.' Max looked at him and then turned to walk outside.

5 minutes later Alec pulled up outside Sandeman's place, next to Max who was sitting on her Ninja, waiting for him. 'Hey, so a transgenic was spotted in Sector three. Krit and Bree, and Syl and Dalton have gone ahead. Let's go.' Alec quickly said, and then they both sped off towards Sector three.

When they entered Sector three it took them less then a minute to locate the transgenic; the police were a dead give away, and they were all migrating to one area. They sped towards their target. When they got there, they saw Bree and Krit fighting four sector cops, and on the other side of the street Syl and Dalton were dealing with the three cops surrounding the transgenic, an X5, by the look of him. Alec saw the car pull up first, and he sighed. Max turned to him, a questioning look on her face.

'Oh, for the love of… Maxie, look who just decided to crash the party.' Max turned to follow his gaze and saw White getting out of the car with his partner. She looked back at Alec, and he nodded before they sped off to the other end of the street. As they passed Syl and Dalton, Alec yelled 'Dalton! White's here.' They skidded to a stop in front of the car and jumped off their bikes. Max headed for White, while Alec quickly disabled Otto and knocked him unconscious. He went over to help Max, and even being a Familiar, White was quickly slumped on the ground next to his partner. Max and Alec grinned to each other, then hopped on their bikes and headed back down the streets.

Max and Alec came up alongside Syl and Dalton. The transgenic got on Syl's bike behind her, and Dalton hopped on behind Alec. That was when the shot rang out through the air, and everyone stopped. Five heads snapped around in unison in time to see Krit falling to the ground. They saw Bree turn, face covered in shock. They watched as she threw one last punch, knocking the last cop out, before she blurred towards Krit.

'Krit!' He looked up at Bree. 'Oh god, get up. Come on, it's ok. Come on, Jule will fix you up good when we get back to TC, come on, just get on the bike. It's gonna be ok.' She told him, trying to keep her voice normal as she led him over to her bike, and sat him on it. She hopped on in front of him and said 'Just hold on to me Krit, just don't let go. GO!' she yelled to the others and the three bikes sped off towards TC, Bree just behind them. As she took off, she gave one last kick and knocked out the cop who had fired the shot, then she picked up speed and followed the three bikes. 'Just hold on, Krit' she whispered.

The gates of TC opened and four bikes raced through. Three of them came to a stop as soon as they were a safe distance from the fence, but one kept going. Max and Alec jumped off their bikes, and Alec turned to Mole, who looked confused. 'This is Ash, take him to HQ, find him a place, show him the ropes. I'll be there shortly. Krit got shot. Dalton, Syl, can you guys take care of the bikes? I know you wanna check on Krit, Syl, but I gotta find Max and Bree.' Syl nodded and Alec raced off after Max, heading for their Medical Building.

He entered the Med building as saw Jule racing from the corridor into a room. He followed her in and found Max standing over Krit as Jule went to work. At first glance, he thought Bree wasn't in there, but as he scanned the room again, he saw her, huddled in the corner, head on her knees and he though; she looks so small and helpless. Then he remembered.

'Calm down Bree, what's wrong?'

'They got him, Luke, they got James. I went to the bathroom, I was only gone a minute and they got him. They took him, I don't know where…'

'Who Bree? Who got him?'

'I don't know. Not Manticore. Oh god, what's gonna happen to him? It's my fault!'

'No, it's not, and nothing's gonna happen to him. We're gonna find him and get him back, and we're gonna do it soon. Before Shellie finds out.'

'What if we're too late?'

He remembered that day with perfect clarity, he remembered her voice coming through the phone, so small and weak he was sure it wasn't Bree. And her question; 'What if we're too late?' He hadn't answered that, he hadn't even wanted to think about being a possibility. And then they had almost been too late, and Bree had blamed herself. It looked like history was repeating itself, or at least, that was how Bree saw it.

'Jule, how bad is it?' he heard Max ask, and he turned to look at Jule as she answered.

'Bullet went clean through, which is good, but it nicked an artery, which is not good. He's lost a lot of blood. Once I've closed this, he should be fine, but he's still losing blood in the meantime, and he might not have enough.'

'So give him blood.' Max said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 'Give him my blood.' She said as she stuck out her arm. Jule looked at it briefly.

'He might need more then you can give.' She said, turning back to Krit, but she motioned to the X6 standing behind her. Jo started setting up for a transfusion, and walked over to Max, who sat in a chair next to the bed and held out her arm. Alec looked at Max and saw the sheer determination on her face, in her eyes. She wasn't about to loose another brother, and he wasn't going to let her, not without a fight.

'She'll give as much as you think is safe for her and then if he needs more, you can hook me up for a while.' Max looked up at this, and Alec said simply 'We look after our own, and we do whatever we can to keep everyone alive. Besides, I don't need all my blood, do? It'll come back quickly enough.' Then her turned and walked to Bree.

'Bree?' he said softly as he knelt down beside her. When she didn't respond, he lifted her head with his hands and saw blank eyes looking back at him. It was almost like she'd crawled somewhere inside herself, and was shutting everything out. 'Bree, it's not your fault. No one blames you. And when Krit wakes up, he'll tell you the same thing.' Still no response. 'Bree, listen to me. It's not your fault, not this time, not last time.' There, that got a response. She let out what sounded like a soft moan. 'He was fine then, and he'll be fine now.' To anyone else, he would've sounded like he was talking about the same person, but her and Bree knew he wasn't. He wrapped his arms around her, and for an hour, he just held her. Then he swapped places with Max.

When Syl, Dalton and Ash walked through the door, that was how they found them Max and Bree in the corner, Alec in a chair next to Krit's bed, needle in his arm, Jule still standing over Krit, sewing him up. Syl released a breath and Dalton let out a small, relieved laugh. Then he spotted Bree, and he almost raced over to her. She'd been his CO back at Manticore, and she'd always been so strong, and now to see her in the corner, huddled against Max, she looked so impossibly small. He walked over to them, and knelt down beside Max, and he gave her a small nod, and she transferred Bree into his arms, then she got up and walked to the bed.

'How is he, Jule?' she asked.

'I stopped the bleeding, and the blood you guys gave him will help heaps. He might be out for a day or so, but he'll be fine. Jo, you can take that out of Alec's arm now. He's gonna be asleep for a while, you might all want to consider going home and doing the same.' Alec and Max nodded, then Alec walked over to Bree.

'Hey, you hear that? Krit's gonna be fine, Doctor says so and everything. I told you it would be fine, didn't I? He just needs to rest, sleep for a while, then he'll be up and bouncing in no time. Speaking of bouncing, there's no way you're gonna be bouncing if you don't get some rest too. How about I take you back to your place huh? I might even cook for ya? What do you say?' He asked, and he started to pull her up gently when she surprised everyone by suddenly kicking out at him and sending him flying. If Max hadn't been standing right behind him, he would have ended up on top of Krit, but she caught him, or rather her body stopped his, which sent them both flying across the floor. Alec turned his head and looked down at Max, who was pinned underneath him, and both their faces were covered in confusion. 'What the…?' was all Alec could say, and he looked up at Dalton, who looked just as confused as he was. Then he shrugged, and turned to Bree as Max and Alec picked themselves up of the floor.

'Bree?' Dalton said hesitantly, stepping closer. Her hand shot out unexpectedly and grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer towards her.

'NO!' She yelled, and shoved him away, straight back into Alec. Then she put her head back on her knees and covered her head with her arms, and went perfectly still. She's hiding from something, but what is it? Max thought, before she, and five others all turned their eyes to Jule, looking at her expectantly.

'Well, I think she's staying here tonight. It's ok, I'll watch her. Both of them, but from the looks of it, neither of them are going anywhere tonight. Now, go, get some sleep, all of you.' When no one moved she said louder 'Now, out! You can come back in the morning.' She glared at them, and they filed out. Dalton was the last to leave, as he threw one last worried glance at Bree, before Jule's stare had him scurrying out. The door shut behind him, and he wandered off towards his apartment. It worried him to see her like this, so weak and helpless. She had always seemed so strong at Manticore, so indestructible, so sure of everything, so… like Max, he realised. He remembered Jampony, and how strong and sure of herself Max had seemed when she first arrived, and how scared she'd been after they were shot at, and she had thrown herself at Alec. Maybe Manticore had made them too good at masking their emotions, at keeping them in. And now Bree's had finally caught up with her, and he didn't know how to help her, and that scared him, and he had no idea why.

A/N: Ok, so what'd you think? Good, bad?