AN: A little more Max and Alec before we get on with the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

Max found her voice. "What?" she choked out.

Alec turned to face her, expression solemn. "She's my daughter. Now, are you coming or what?"

"B-but how? They said she was like, eight, or something, and Rachel was in the coma…" Max stammered. Alec a father? That had to be the craziest thing she'd ever heard.

"My mission was almost ten years ago. Sarah's turning nine soon," Alec said impatiently. "Max, just come on. I'll explain on the way."

Oh God, he was serious. Max closed her jaw with an audible click and started for the door. "Okay. Let's blaze."

"So uh, you and Rachel--?" Max started once she caught up to Alec. Running a little to match his stride, she had followed him through to Command Center, where Alec had informed Mole where they were going, putting him in charge until their return.

"Yep," he replied curtly.

"Why didn't you ever tell me you had a kid? I mean, we've known each other for eight years, so that's a pretty long time to keep a secret like that. Does Josh know?" The questions poured out, once she started asking them.

Reaching the motorcycles, Alec glanced at Max while he got on his lime-green Duke, Max on her black Ninja. "I never knew about her until a short while ago. I guess around the time you noticed me starting to act a little…weird. And no, I haven't told anybody until now."

The pair of them cruised out of the gates of their city. "So how'd you find out?" Max asked, raising her voice slightly so she could be heard over the wind.

"Sarah tracked me down." Alec grinned proudly, his expression positively giddy as he looked over at Max when he answered. "She's smart like that. She gets good grades in school and is even a grade ahead and she's got loads of friends."

Alec never failed to amaze Max. "She sounds great. And all those calls you've been getting..?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I gave her my number."

"So when do you have your quality father-daughter time? 'Cause I noticed you're in TC whenever you're not working." Max stopped when she caught the expression of complete anguish that flashed across Alec's face before he managed to cover it up.

"No," he said, his voice almost lost in the wind, "I've only met her once. Berrisford and I decided that seeing me isn't safe for her, you know, me being a transgenic and all." This last was said quite bitterly and what he'd said earlier now made sense to Max. He was going to say that the way things were now, he couldn't even see his own daughter.

Max positioned her bike closer to his as she said reassuringly, "I'm sorry. We'll find her, Alec. We'll find her."

Alec clenched his jaw before answering. "I'm gonna kill the sons of bitches who took my daughter," he said, voice steely. "And before I do, I'm gonna make them sorry they ever laid a hand on her." Something Max had once heard on a nature show about a mother animal defending her young from danger popped into her head. Only this was the father and he was pissed.

"Alec," She said sharply. "No killing. Remember?"

"Yeah. Right. No killing. Then those guys are in for a severe ass-beating," Alec growled. His knuckles were white, his fingers gripping the handles so hard Max thought he was going to warp the metal.

After a minute of riding in silence, Alec turned to her, considerably less agitated. "Thanks, Max. You know, for being my friend and all." He ducked his head, a gesture he tended to make when he was uncomfortable and dropped his speed slightly. "Sorry I've uh," he cleared his throat, "Sorry I've been worrying you these past couple weeks. I…I've had a lot on my mind."

Max gave him her famous "you're an idiot" look. "Yeah, well, next time just tell me."

"Before I get my ass in a shitload of trouble?" Alec finished with a faint smirk.

Max smirked, too. "Exactly." With that, they revved up their motors and sped towards their destination.

Upon reaching the school, the two transgenics saw that it was surrounded by police cars. They quickly located Logan talking to Detective Matt Sung.

Max strode up to them, Alec flanking her, suddenly appearing apprehensive. "Whacha got?" she demanded.

"Hey Max, Alec," Matt greeted them tiredly. "Not much, I'm afraid. All we've been able to find out about the kidnappers is that they were all male, one was tall and thin, one was pretty big, and the other was right in between. There was another person driving the van, but we can't see the face from the video. There are no plates to trace, and we lost track of the van after one sector. Nobody saw anything; there was a big soccer game going on the other side of the playground at the time"

Logan frowned. "I might be able to help with that footage. Maybe polarize the image, see if we can catch any reflections of their faces, other features."

"Thanks, Logan. I'll have the tapes sent to you as soon as possible." Matt reached into the pocket of his overcoat. "We did find this at the site of one of the kidnappings, though" he said, holding out a small plastic evidence bag to Logan, who was able to catch a glimpse of the silver object before Alec slipped it from his fingers.

"It's Sarah's," the transgenic said quietly, turning the locket over in his hands, the broken chain visible through the clear plastic.

Matt looked at Alec with surprise etched onto his face. "Yeah. Apparently it belongs to Sarah Berrisford, the youngest victim. How did you know?"

"That's not relevant to this case," Alec said, his lips set in a grim line. He'd already told Max and Logan was smart enough to figure it out eventually, but he wasn't going to spill the beans to the police.

The detective glared at him. "The hell it's not. Anything could be important."

Alec paused, eyes locking with Sung's. "Fine then. I know her family. Happy?" he grimaced.

Matt looked skeptical at this brief answer but he wasn't going to pursue this angle right now. "Sure." Turning his attention back to the whole group, he explained, "We don't really know what they want them for. There haven't been any phone calls to the families for ransom or any letters, either."

Max's eyebrows formed a "V". "Ransom? Are they all that rich?"

Nodding, Matt said, "The kids are four of the wealthiest students enrolled at the school." He sighed. "Poor kids. It's not their faults that their parents are well-off. This is going to make a big stink. I hate kidnapping cases. They end up ugly way too often."

"Yeah," Alec said, his voice strangely tight. "They're bitches, all right."

Max gripped his bicep. "There might be contact later. They might call to tell us what they want with the kids," she said softly. "We'll find them."

Alec didn't answer. Logan and Matt watched the pair. Logan was digging in his brain for exactly why the name "Berrisford" had sounded so familiar and why the two transgenics were acting strangely. Matt frowned as he put the gears in his brain in motion as well. There was something going on here, and he intended to get all the dirty details on this case.

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