AN: Also I'm changing some facts like how long Max was at Manticore to fit the story idea, again as you read it'll all explain it's self in due time.

Secrets of Silence

Chapter two

"Daddy!" The little three year old girl yelled as she jumped into her father's strong arms. "How was work?" she had hoped he liked the job and wouldn't go back to the fighting ring for money. She knew he could handle it but she still didn't like it.

Alec smiled at the hope laced along her dark brown eyes. "It was perfect." He answered causing her to smile as well. "But I have to go back, this is just break time." he set her down on the floor then hand and hand they went to the kitchen for lunch.

~*~

After a page from Logan Max quickly finished her lunch and rushed over to his place. He had called at a good time, this time she needed his help instead of just the other way around. "Hey." She said with a small wave of her hand.

"Hey. I thought you'd want to know there have been some police reports about mutants being seen. You might want to look into it." Logan explained jumping right into why he called as he gathered the reports he spoke of. As she took them careful not to touch him he noticed her expression. "What's wrong?"

Max sat down on the armrest of one of the near by chairs. "There's this guy." She stated unsure why it had become such a big deal but it bugged her all day, she needed to do something.

Logan felt a surge of anger that she wanted to talk to him about another guy, that there was even another guy. "What about him?"

"I'm not sure but I think he's from Manticore."

Logan let out a breath he had been holding. There was nothing to worry about, Max hated everything Manticore. He looked at her again noticing her serious expression. "Does he have a barcode, what makes you think he's a transgenic?"

Max was silent and annoyed over the fact she couldn't shake the feeling about him and his image, the way he had looked at her. "The way he carried himself and his distant presence, he just reminded me of what Manticore made us into."

"That's a lot to notice."

Max sharply looked up and met his eyes. "There's things people can never forget, when it comes to Manticore training it was my hell. I pick up on it." Something about his comment bothered her. He made it sound like she was wrong somehow to feel the way she had.

Logan sighed and knew when to back up. "If you can get a name or address on him I'll see if there's anything that could help."

~*~

The next couple of days around Alec she decided it didn't matter, what he was or wasn't didn't change her life one bit. But she still wanted to know what Logan found out from the address she swiped from the Jam Pony employee file. It was just the way she was built, she picked up on things, and she tried to convince herself of that as she watched Alec talking to one of the female employees.

He was a ladies man but at the same time he turned down numerous offers, no one really saw him outside of Jam Pony. Sketchy was still trying to convince him to join everyone at Crash; he was in desperate need of a male friend. But Alec always answered there was somewhere else he had to be.

"Take a picture it lasts longer."

She met his hazel eyes as he walked toward her by the lockers. He was a cocky smart ass, she added to her list of realizations about the stranger. "Don't flatter yourself; you just happen to be standing where I was staring." Not the best lie, she grimly thought.

"That's what they all say."

She crossed her arms and watched as he opened his locker which was right behind hers. She looked at his neck but again couldn't see because of the jacket's collar which he always wore. Like clock work he was gone as soon as his shift ended. Max sighed and decided she needed a life, she spent too much time trying to figure this stranger out. She slammed her own locker shut and headed home.

~*~

Alec laid back on his bed as Ava played in the living room with Shane, an X-6 he helped escape from the Manticore fire. Since then they stuck together and Ava didn't have to be alone when he was at work.

Since she found out what parents are and she had a father that loved her Ava wondered about her mother. Alec wondered as well, X-5 452, Max; he knew facts from a file he was never supposed to see. The same way he was never supposed to find out about Ava. His hands clenched at his sides as he thought of all the lies and tricks Manticore pulled.

His mood lifted when Ava jumped on his bed. "Hey Peach what's up?" he asked using her nickname.

"Daddy can we go out for a walk?" Since she saw the free world she couldn't get enough. Staying in one spot too long upset her leaving her feeling confined the way she use to be.

"Sure Peach let's go."

~*~

Max sat at the bar counter at Crash and watched her friends playing pool. She smiled at the freedom she felt, it was those moments she missed the most when she was stuck at Manticore again. Years of her life just taken away but she was grateful the loved ones in her life never let go and welcomed her back with open arms.

The beeping sounds of her pager pulled her out of her thoughts. She headed to the bar's payphone and called him back. "Hey what's shaking?"

"I have some information on that guy you wanted me to check into."

-

Isabelle A.