READ I am not going to beg for reviews anymore.

If you review, however, I will update faster.

It's not a bribe, it's a fact. Reviews let me know how many people are still interested in the story and what they want to see.

The more people I know are waiting for updates the faster my little hands will go.

Chapter 16- Optional Extras Techie's fingers were long and nimble and especially good at finagling small pieces of wire and manipulating them into position without the use of pliers. It was a skill that came in very useful when he was in the field and he had gained the reputation of being the only one nimble enough and quick enough to diffuse bombs without any problem or show of nerves. Of course, Techie would have said that after dealing with Feen in a bad mood, bombs were easy.

But what no one knew about the resident mechanic was that he had quite the creative streak and actually enjoyed twisting wire and nuts and bolts into small sculptures. His hobby had been one way to keep busy and out of the way in Manticore and he had been slightly upset to leave his creations behind in the Manticore lab when it burnt down.

Of course, he was slightly more upset that he had left family members there—he wasn't completely heartless.

Now that he had space of his own and enough bits of wire to keep him twisting until doomsday he was quite happy.

With bolts for the body, nuts for heads and fuse wire for limbs he was getting quite adept at making 'hardware' people.

Right now he was working on a complicated sculpture comprising of one figure made of nuts and bolts strangling another—he had decide to call it 'relationships'.

Techie bit back a grin as he thought of Feen finding his stash of 'hardware' people. She'd proclaim him some sort of reclusive freak and try to get him to socialise with people more.

He was hiding them very well.

One of the great things that he had discovered about heading the electronics team was that he got to delegate and had handed all of the parts that included dealing with people to Dix, leaving him to concentrate on the fascinating bits of wire.

See, electronics were easier than people. As long as they were connected properly and had a good power source they were happy and worked, and if something did go pear-shaped it was easy to find out what was wrong.

Unlike people.

No, people always wanted to talk about their feelings and emotions and actions. They wanted to dissect every action and conversation and analyze things.

And when something was wrong they wouldn't tell him. Oh, no, he was supposed to be some damn mind reader automatically knowing what the matter was and being able to fix it and, if he didn't know, then he was in for a world of trouble and that was something else he didn't understand.

"Sir?"

He looked up to see a short blonde transgenic carrying a tray with a mug of steaming coffee and assorted biscuits. His mouth watered for both the caffeine and the savoury snacks. The girl gave him a shy smile.

"I thought you might need a drink."

Techie blushed, a reflex action from talking to a girl that wasn't Feen. "T-thanks," he swallowed and gestured to the table.

She placed the tray down and stood with her hands behind her back biting her lip.

"Was there something else?" he asked kindly.

She flushed bright red and opened her mouth to speak—

"Hey, Sonea, don't you have an elsewhere to be?"

Feen stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips and an odd look on her face as she stared at the blonde like she was a nasty stain ready to be removed.

Sonea nodded quickly and, after shooting Techie another smile, walked off, her hips swaying as she edged past Feen.

Feen watched her go with narrowed eyes and a temper that steamed hotter than Techie's coffee as she rounded on Techie. "What was that?"

"Coffee?" he said nonplussed. "Did you have to yell at her? She was only being nice."

"Nice?" she spat, her eyes narrowing further until only a thin slit of black showed, giving her an almost demonic expression. "Is she nice often? Does she bring you coffee and biscuits and cake? Is that what you want, huh?"

Oh, shit. Techie thought. "Uh… I don't like cake?" Is that the right answer?

Feen relaxed slightly, straightening. "You just be sure and tell Miss Legs that, okay?"

"She didn't bring me cake. Just biscuits," he felt obliged to say, knowing, somehow, that he was digging himself in deeper but not sure why.

Feen glared at him. "Sometimes, Techie, I swear we aren't on the same planet."

She turned around and stormed off, slamming the door behind her like she was an extra in a western, leaving poor Techie perplexed and not just a little depressed about it.

"What did I say?" he mumbled as he slumped down in his chair.

"It was more what you didn't say."

Techie spun in the general direction of the voice and saw a teenaged boy sat on the floor in one corner, with his back against the wall and a book on his lap. From the way he was sitting, it was obvious that he had been there for some time and the fact that Techie hadn't even noticed him arrive made him more than slightly curious as to the boy's identity, let alone his cryptic comments.

"Who are you?"

"Isacar," the boy replied without taking his eyes off the book he was holding. He turned the page as if the conversation were over.

"What are you doing here?"

Isacar sighed. "I was trying to read. It seems to be a futile endeavour in this place as people have an unerring ability to converse at great length on the topic of nothing at all. Obviously the old adage that silence is golden bypassed this facility completely."

He went back to his reading without lifting his head.

Techie watched him for a moment before returning to twisting wire, shooting the odd boy furtive glances every now and then. The only sounds for about ten minutes were the turning of pages from the corner and the scrape of metal as bolts were manipulated into place.

"What didn't I say?" Techie finally asked after thinking on Isacar's words.

Isacar turned a page. "You didn't say that there was nothing going on with you and the blonde because she isn't the redhead."

"Feen," Techie clarified and the boy looked up, one eyebrow raised. "The redhead is Feen. The blonde… I don't know her name—did Feen call her Sonic?"

"Hmm," Isacar shrugged one shoulder. "I'm sadly reminded of the fact that I don't care. However much Feen may."

Techie frowned. "I don't understand."

"Feen walked in on Sonea attempting to flirt with you. She felt threatened and so she lashed out at you for encouraging Sonea. She also questioned your awareness of the girl and you didn't refute the fact that you desired Sonea and so Feen is now infuriated with you."

Techie blinked. "I thought she was talking about cake."

"I know." Isacar went back to his book.

"How did you get all that out of half a dozen words?" he asked enquiringly, staring at the boy in fascination.

Isacar put his finger on his page, holding his place, and glanced at Techie. "I recently lodged with three women; you tend to pick things up when you do."

Techie was dubious. "I've spend more than fifteen years in a unit with at least six women and I have as much an idea now as I did when I was a kid—none."

Isacar regarded him thoughtfully, his blond hair falling into his eyes. "Women are not easy to understand but they are easy to handle."

"How?" Techie's voice was pleading.

"They are like… cars," Isacar decided after a few seconds. "In actuality they may be a S.U.V or tank, but secretly every single one wants to be a sports car; a top of the line, streamlined leather interior sports car. But even the girls who are sports cars feel the need to be constantly upgraded."

"Like computer software?" Techie asked, somewhat desperately.

"Ye-ah." The look Isacar shot him was caustic. "Now the S.U.V may want to be a sports car but it not only will never admit that, but it will resent the comparison. The secret to keeping it happy is to treat it like a sports car. Wax it, keep its engine purring and continually tell it that you need no other car. Never suggest that it needs its oil changing or surface work done—even if it does. Never even joke about trading it for another model and just accept the fact that sometimes it is going to play up for no discernable reason. When it does, change its oil, buy new seat covers and apologize for not doing so faster."

"What do I do if I… uh… crunched gears?"

Isacar eyed him dubiously. "The metaphor only works so far, after that it gets creepy. Go buy Feen chocolate. Tell her that you hate blondes and that Miss Legs whose name you most emphatically do not know, nor would ever care to know, couldn't hold a candle to Feen. If she wants to rant, let her. If you want to shut her up," he hesitated. "Well, Flex always kissed Skye so she'd be quiet."

"Flex did that?" Techie perked up. If Flex 'the stud' did it, then it probably worked.

Isacar turned back to his book. "My advice would be to do so now, before she has the chance to get even more insecure."

"Okay," Techie bit his lip, still sitting down.

After a few moments, Isacar looked up again. "Do you want me to write it down for you?"

"No," Techie paused. "How are you with electronics?"

"Well enough to know that the circuit board over there is fried three ways from Sunday," Isacar said.

Techie stared at the board that Dix had been working at for a week. "It is?"

"Hmm," Isacar turned a page. "Needs three pins changing and a whole new layer adding before it's even halfway up to spec. They were part of a computer mainframe developed by Frellig United. You do know that they were a German manufacturer in 2005 and that they made two-hundred and thirty seven of the computers with built in security dispensers so that once they fried the only way to get them out was to send it back to them, thus ensuring continued service. Ingenious if they hadn't been caught trying to sabotage their competition with viruses in their software. They were charged and went bankrupt in a year. The funny part was that the courtroom computer crashed half-way through the verdict. Guess who their computer supplier was?"

Techie laughed and got up, giving the boy an approving look. "I think I've found my new assistant."

Isacar didn't look up from his book. "Good for you, let me know how it turns out."

"It's you."

It dawned on Isacar that Techie was serious and he placed his book down for the first time in the conversation and turned hazel eyes to the man. "Will I have to carry a pig's bladder over a field and deposit it in a net?"

Techie blinked. "It's not in the job description."

"I'll do it then," Isacar sighed and stood up, coming over to where Techie was working and picking up the circuit board. "I'll have this done in an hour."

Techie blinked. "Don't you want to finish the book?"

"The great thing about characters in books is that they are always there if you want to come back to them. People in real life are far less predictable and more likely to abscond if not properly restrained." He gestured pointedly at Techie. "Go, talk to the redhead."

Techie smiled as he headed for the door. He'd made a new friend on his own.

Feen would be so pleased.

>>>>

Alec watched as Max spoke anxiously into her cell phone. They had been talking about the suggestion he had made for the fighting scheme and workers at Jam Pony.

He knew that Max was pleased at the suggestion and glad that he was finally taking his place in the world that they were making, but she was understandably concerned about the risks that would be involved in such an operation.

And it was risky. There were more and more reports coming in daily on the news about the transgenics, telling the general public information that only those with maximum security clearance in Manticore should have had access to.

It was almost as if they were being deliberately hounded and exposed and they all had more than an inkling of who was doing the exposing.

Ames White—the bane of transgenics everywhere.

Alec looked up as Max hung up the phone staring preoccupied into the distance.

"Max?"

"It was O.C." Max bit her lip thoughtfully as she came over. "Said that she has something to tell me. Something important."

"Do you think she's okay?" Alec knew how much the woman meant to Max. Original Cindy had been there for Max when no one else was, she had been there to talk to Max and make her feel better; she had raged against arrogant men and had held Max's hand when she thought that all was lost with Alec.

They both owed her debts of gratitude and he could tell by the way Max chewed her lip that she was worried about the street smart sister.

Max shrugged at his question. "It didn't sound like she was in pain, nor did she sound panicked, just…" Max trailed off and shrugged. "I'm meeting her after she gets off work."

Alec nodded and held his arm out, pleased when Max leaned into his embrace and sighed as she inhaled.

"Thanks," she whispered so softly that he thought he had imagined it.

"Yeah," Alec kissed the top of her head and rested his cheek against the soft tresses glad that Max was prepared to keep to her promise of being less harsh with him. It manifested itself in small ways, nothing that anyone else could see but the little gestures meant the world to Alec.

"Uh, I hate to interrupt."

Max and Alec turned to the door where Luke was blushing furiously at their tender moment.

"What is it, Luke?" Max shifted back into pseudo- leader mode, standing straight and pulling away from Alec.

The trench digger shuffled his feet and kept shooting Alec odd glances.

Max frowned. "Luke? You want me to get Pix?"

"No," the man seemed torn as to whether to say what was bothering him and then decided to just go for it. "We have two transgenics at the front desk requesting entry."

"Passwords and barcodes?" Max asked, well aware of the variety of security measures that they now had in place to keep out unwanted attention.

"Both X-series, barcodes match ones in the database and they picked up the password from Manticore base as instructed."

Alec frowned. "So, what's the problem? Let them in."

Luke shifted uneasily. "Uh, we would, only um…"

The normally placid man seemed to be having some sort of internal debate, which he was clearly losing.

"Well," he ventured finally, "you'd better see for yourself."

Alec wasn't sure what was going on and the way Luke had looked so unsure immediately put him on his guard. Was there more bad news?

He let Max see the worry in his eyes and she nodded her own consternation. A small feeling of warmth spread through him as he realized that, once again, they were on the same page.

"Come up, slowly." Luke called over the banister and Alec reached under the desk for the small revolver placed there for emergencies.

Max nodded at his caution, knowing what he was thinking and edged for the door, standing a little way behind it as if to surprise whoever walked in.

It meant that Alec was the first to see Luke step aside but it was the voice that they both heard first.

"Sheesh, if this is how you treat friends then I'm glad I'm not the enemy. Want me to strip down so you can do a body search?"

"Maybe later," Max quipped as she stepped out from behind the door. Drew almost jumped out her skin as her friend appeared.

"Shit, Max!" she said as she grasped her heart. "You almost knocked ten years off my life!"

"That would regress you to B.J.'s age and you could finally be on the same wavelength as him."

"My driving ambition," Drew rolled her eyes and moved to pull Max into a half-hug.

Max reached for Drew at the same time and yanked her into her arms in a crushing embrace that spoke volumes about how she had missed the raven-haired woman.

Drew held on just as tightly, ignoring the fact that neither she nor Max was particularly of the 'hugging' crowd.

This was something more. It was a tactile reaffirming that they were still alive and still family.

As Drew closed her eyes she had the sensation that a piece of her that was missing had been suddenly clicked into place. There were still holes; and would be until she saw the rest of her unit, but for now it was enough to have Max here.

"Hey, girl," she said softly and pulled back to look into the eyes of her best friend. "Missed me?"

"Hell, no," Max shrugged her shoulders and stepped away with casual nonchalance. "Hardly noticed you were gone."

Drew smirked. "Fell to pieces, huh?"

"Broken hearted," Max rolled her eyes in response.

Alec stood up and came over gaining Drew's attention. Her eyes opened slightly and a smile covered her lips.

"Hey, Alec."

"Drew," Alec greeted and wrapped his arms around his old friend. "Where have you been?"

"Injured, incapacitated and, oh yeah, insane."

"Nice to know that nothing changed," Alec intoned and earned a poke to the ribs. "Ow! Seriously good to have you back, Drew." He rubbed his ribs. "How long are you staying?"

Alec's teasing grin faded as Drew's face grew pensive.

"Drew?" Max queried. "What was Luke going on about? What's the problem?"

"That would be me."

All eyes turned to the man in the doorway and two jaws dropped as he came into view.

He smiled sheepishly. "Hiya, Maxie."

"Ben?"

>

To say that she was surprised to see him was an understatement of epic proportions; like saying Noah's flood was a bit of a drizzle.

"Ben?" she repeated and took a stumbling step forward, halting inches away from the man who was the mirror of her mate.

He swallowed, hazel eyes staring at her with something akin to reverence.

Ben watched as his tiny sibling looked up at him with a faint smile hovering around her lips.

Out of the corner of his vision he could see Drew holding onto his twin's arm as if to stop him interfering in the confrontation happening in front of his eyes.

Ben disregarded them both, his attention on the dark haired woman in front of him.

She was exactly as he had remembered and more than he had ever hoped. The last time he had seen her he had been on the edge, ready to plummet to his self-destructive ways—one way or another. She had given him the courage to continue.

That day in the church, now almost two years ago, had been a turning point for him.

To Zack he had always been the irresponsible joker of the family, the one who was more likely to land them in hot water than to get them out of it and that constant disapproval and oppression had caused the well of self-loathing to spring up and choke him, causing his spiral of self-destructive behaviour to spin out of control.

He killed to feel better about himself, but the killing made him feel worse and so it went on and on, until Max stepped in the vortex and stopped it.

Her words of belief and support had changed the motivation of his killing. He had stopped hunting his prey and giving them his own barcode through some misguided need for penance; instead he hunted because that was what he wanted. No longer a punishment but a form of liberation. It was a way of assuring himself that he could go out without Manticore hanging over his shoulder, whispering in his ear that he was worthless, that he was expendable.

Ben had taken Max's words on board, the fact that she didn't judge him and even understood in a way that Zack had never bothered to even try, making all the difference to him and his sense of self.

No wonder that he loved Max to distraction.

A smile flitted over his face as he looked down at her.

"I'm here," he said unnecessarily.

"Hallelujah," muttered a voice from his left and he ignored the man with his face.

Max stepped forward again and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, squeezing him tightly.

"God, am I glad to see you!" She said her voice thick with emotion.

"Likewise," he smiled as she pulled back, the familiar cheeky grin an almost physical blow. "I told you I'd find you."

"That you did," she agreed. "How have you been?"

Ben ducked his head in a very Alec-like gesture and shrugged. "Good."

Drew cleared her throat. "I wouldn't go that far."

Max eyed the two of them. "The two of you were together?"

"Only briefly," Drew snapped quickly, blushing slightly at Alec's incredulous look. "And it wasn't like it was planned or anything. I mean, sheesh. What am I, wearing a sign?"

There was a brief moment of silence as Max blinked at Drew's odd behaviour and her bizarre defensiveness.

Ben smirked in amusement. "Uh, honey, she meant 'have we been staying together?' Mind—gutter."

Max raised an eyebrow at a furious Drew. "Honey?"

Drew put her hands on her hips as she regarded Ben. "Would you like me to kick your ass now, or later? Jerk."

Ben laughed. "She can't get enough of me."

"I doubt that," Drew replied icily despite her red cheeks and Alec nodded.

"I'd go with Drew. I've already had enough of you."

Ben turned to fully face his twin for the first time and let his eyes rake over them, cataloguing the differences he perceived.

"Don't you realize that there are enough people in the world to hate without you actively working so hard to provide another?" Ben asked and Alec's eyes narrowed.

"If your opinion mattered, I'd be crushed. As it is it's hard to feel bad about someone who has the intellectual capacity of lint."

"Whereas your sole contribution to the human race is to serve as a warning to others."

Max and Drew watched in uneasy alliance as the two men proved that there such a thing as hate at first sight.

Alec clenched his fists. "Why don't you shut your mouth and give your ass a rest, huh?"

Ben rolled his eyes. "Someone obviously flunked anatomy 101."

"Well at least you know your dentistry."

The two brothers eyed each other with barely concealed ire, their last encounter running through both their minds.

They had stood in a church hall, pews running down either side in an odd parody of regimented soldiers and Alec had dropped down from the ceiling, brandishing a gun at Ben, demanding that he leave Max.

"No. I need her," Ben had begun but Alec swung the gun in his direction. "Shut the hell up! I've lost enough because of you."

As Ben had stared at the familiar green eyes he realised that he wasn't the only one that needed Max; that loved Max.

"Its okay, Maxie, don't cry." He turned to his weeping sister who realized that she was about to lose him again and kissed her eyelids, smirking as he saw Alec flinch behind her. "I'll find you," he promised quietly, not sure that she could hear him over the small sobs she was making.

He pushed her away and walked up to the man that held his face.

Alec had dug in his pocket and threw some cash at Ben. Acknowledging that Ben would find it hard on the outside.

"Get out of town," he spat, "and for God's sake, stop the dentistry thing. It's creepy."

And now they looked at each other with the woman that they both loved in front of them, her eyes darting from one to the other.

"Aren't you pleased to see me, brother?" Ben taunted.

Alec glared at him. "This is an excellent time for you to become a missing person."

Ben gave him a nasty grin in return. "Alec, right? Yeah, they told me about you downstairs. They said you were a great asset. I told them they were off by two letters."

"Another person fixated with my ass." Alec said disgustedly. "Go screw yourself."

Ben looked him up and down. "Sorry, you're not my type."

"Guys?" Max interrupted. "As fascinating as watching you argue with yourself is, can you not, okay? I have far too much to do to settle squabbles today."

Drew nodded, her mouth twitching with repressed humour as the two men almost snarled at each other.

"Uh, is everything okay?" said Luke's nervous voice from the doorway as he took in the two identical men staring at each other in rancour.

"Fine," Alec bit out.

"Great," Ben echoed.

"Oh, good," Luke grimaced. "For a moment I was worried."

"This is Ben," Alec said grudgingly. "My Manticore appointed twin."

Ben nodded in greeting at the other transgenic. "He's the part of the gene pool that needs chlorine."

"If I kill him is that homicide or suicide?" Alec asked Max who was having trouble disguising her amusement.

Luke just smiled nervously and backed away, ready to relay the latest news from Freak Central to the others.

Just when he thought that things couldn't get any weirder around here.

"Max?" Drew's voice was hesitant, almost as if she were afraid to ask the question that had been on her mind every day for the past six months.

"He's here," Max soothed, knowing exactly what Drew wanted to know and was rewarded when the breath escaped her body in one long whoosh.

"Shit," Drew breathed in pure relief and pushed her hair out of her face. "I've been going crazy."

"Dek too," Alec answered, finally taking his eyes off Ben. "At one point I thought we were going to have to restrain him."

"But he's okay?"

Max let the guilt she had been feeling over her actions with Dek sweep over her quickly and settle to a nervous tension regarding what Drew would do once she found out.

Someone had once told her that she shouldered the guilt of the world like a comfortable shawl and Max had laughed, agreeing that she had more than her fair share of it.

But this part was for something that she did do. Max, whilst she hadn't had sex with Dek, had slept with him and kissed him and he was Drew's boyfriend.

Max hadn't known that Drew was still alive but that was no excuse. Max didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize her relationship with her best friend in the world and was somewhat relieved that Drew had seemingly had her own relationship with Ben somewhere along the way.

If both Drew and Dek had taken up with other people, no matter how momentarily, it couldn't be too bad. Could it?

Would Drew be upset with Max and blame her or would she be okay with it?

Max twisted her hands together as she hoped that Drew wouldn't be too upset. Although she loved Drew, she was well aware that Drew had a temper shorter than many of Coco's dresses and, Manticore knows, Ben was a few lines short of a barcode.

Although when she thought it over, it was actually kinda funny.

Her lips twitched as she thought of the twisted relationship between her, Drew, Dek, Alec and now Alec's twin. Max had been with Drew's guy whilst Drew had been with Max's guy's twin, both of which irritated Max's guy.

All it really proved was that they both had great taste in men.

"He's fine," she replied and offered to go fetch him herself.

"No," Drew said decisively as she cocked her head to the left with an odd smile. "He's already on his way."

Max broke into a full fledged grin at the evidence that the link between Dek and Drew was still as strong as it ever had been.

Just as she opened her mouth to ask what Drew and Ben's plans were, there was a bang from the door and a small dirty boy raced into the Headquarters.

"Uh, hi," he said with a nervous expression and did a double take at the two identical men.

"Don't worry about him," Alec said at the boy's stare. "He's proof that even Manticore didn't get it right every time."

"Hi, can we help you?" Drew said imperiously as the boy looked even more perplexed.

"I'm rat, Street-Rat, and I need to talk to the person in charge. Pax or something?"

"Pix?" Max asked with her arms folded, leaning casually against the desk.

The boy's expression lightened. "Yeah and quickly. She said I only have like eight minutes to get him."

The whole room was suddenly on alert.

Who exactly wanted their leader and what for?

"Who sent you?"

"Never mind that," Drew started. "Pix is in charge?"

"I'll fill you in later," Max dismissed and turned back to the boy. "Rat?"

The boy shifted nervously, twitching like his namesake. "I was on the street keeping a look-see for opportunities when the phone on the edge of TC rang."

"You were checking for marks?" Ben said with barely concealed amusement. "Right outside the gates?"

Rat shrugged. "I answered the phone and a lady demanded that I get someone in charge to answer the phone in six and a half minutes. She said it was vital… no; imperative."

"Did you catch a name, before we go sending Pix into a trap?" Alec asked sarcastically, still smarting from the appearance of his serial killer brother.

The boy trembled under the forbidding expressions of four X-series. "I think she said her name was Anna."

It was if her name were a magical word and Max lurched to her feet from her position.

"Excellent, take me to the phone, Rat. You did good."

The boy smiled, showing teeth pointed like fangs.

"I'm going to check in with Anna and let her know that Annoy made it."

Alec nodded, effectively ignoring his brother. "What can I do?"

"Good question," Ben muttered.

Max shrugged and then bit her lip. "Your idea of the fight club. Go for it."

"Really?" Alec was surprised. Was she seriously considering the idea?

Max nodded, with a reassuring smile. "Do it, and talk to Normal as well. Just don't take Ben. Two 'golden boys' would make him wet himself."

Alec shuddered and gave Ben a dirty glare.

Max backed away with a smile, heading out of the door. "Fix Drew and Ben with a room, tell Pix that I'll need a meet and, for Manticore's sake, get me something to eat!"

"Yes, ma'am," Alec saluted. "Lay down and I'll fan you."

Max leered at him. "Maybe later."

"After my body search," Drew added as Max turned to follow the boy.

"Gross," Alec raked a hand through his hair. "I think I can set you up with a room in Oak Hall street, unless you wanna stay with Dek?"

"I'll need to talk to him first."

For the first time since he had known her, Drew seemed nervous about something other than exams.

"Hey, Drew," he said calmly. "Dek is fine… well, no, Dek is an ass. But he's missed you, kid."

"I've missed him," Drew replied. "But call me kid again and I'll make you wish they'd flushed your test tube."

Alec laughed out loud and leaned over to smack a kiss on her forehead. "That's the Drew I remember." He looked over at Ben. "Although I'm sure you had better taste."

Drew eyed him. "Well, I didn't go for his looks."

It was testament to the fact that Alec was so preoccupied with Ben that it took several seconds for the insult to register.

"Hey!" he said affronted and Ben sighed.

"Obvious Alec was at the shallower end of the gene pool."

"So says the one who had to go back for his hair gel," Drew rolled her eyes. "Dek is on his way, is it safe to leave you two alone?"

"No."

"No way."

"Absolutely not."

"No way, José."

"That's be no, then would it?" she said exasperated. "Fine. Just make sure that there is enough of one of you for Max when she comes back." With a wicked glint in her eye she added. "I'm not sure it matters which one."

"Hey!" was the united indignant reply and Drew grinned as she walked out of the office, closing the door to lean in the shadows against the opposite wall.

She wondered absently if locking Ben and Alec in one room together was a good idea, but her musings were proved irrelevant as the door opened seconds later to eject Ben who slammed the door and walked away without a glance in her direction.

She had felt the slight prickling against the back of her neck that signalled Dek was on his way and she forgot everything else.

Her hands felt shaky although when she held them out they were as steady as a rock. She could feel her breath coming faster and her heart beat louder in the fetid air that seemed to encapsulate Terminal City.

She was aware of her surroundings in a way that she hadn't been in quite some while. It was as if knowing that Dek was on his way was making her more alive; like she had only been half living these past few months.

A thrum started in the back of her neck, just below her barcode and she curved her hands into claws, her attention fixed on the far door.

And, like magic, it slammed open and a speeding blur erupted through the central command centre like a dervish, guards and transgenics alike scattering out of the way.

Whilst with Ben, Drew had seen her fair share of cartoons and had watched a pre-pulse one called Roadrunner and, whilst she hated the roadrunner with a fiery passion, the coyote had garnered her sympathy. At several points the coyote had been going full pelt, only to stop with a jarring motion that seemed to flash freeze the rest of the world into place.

This was what seemed to happen here.

Dek had been blurring so fast that when he came to a halt in front of the door she was currently standing in front of, it was with such force that she could almost see the skid marks on the floor and the rush of wind as the world settled around him.

He paused, his hand outstretched for the handle and she took the moment to imprint him on her memory. He was thinner than she remembered and his hair was longer, tangling around his shoulders now. It was also lighter and she made a mental note to use that to tease him about his vanity later on.

Dek waited with his hand outstretched for what seemed like hours while she took a mental inventory and gathered her courage.

"Hey, Dek," she breathed and he let out a jagged breath, turning so damn slowly she wasn't sure he was actually moving.

He faced her. "Hey, Drew."

His voice, so long missed and unheard for months caught at her heartstrings and she felt herself melt.

So this was what they meant about coming home again.

Dek was her home, no matter what else had happened between them this was her home.

But what if he didn't feel the same? What if those delicious blue eyes didn't want to belong to her?

What would she do if he had found someone new?

They were frozen and panicked ripped her heart as she gave him a small, uncertain smile.

"Oh, god, Drew!" he gasped and opened his arms.

Drew ran into them, tucking her head under his chin like she was made to fit there, and breathing deeply of his familiar and comforting scent. She felt him bury his face in her hair and breathe in the same way that she was. Her hands gripped the back of his shirt, tugging him impossibly closer; she needed to feel him.

Really feel him.

"Missed you," he mumbled and the tension disappeared as he worded what she had been feeling.

"Yeah, me, too." She felt the odd sting of tears as she said those words and knew that she was being incomprehensibly girly and not at all like herself.

She wasn't the kind to hug or burst into tears at the slightest provocation and it was kind of grating that this sentimentality had drawn moisture from her eyes.

She blinked it back, furious with herself and pulled back to look into Dek's familiar blue eyes.

She was understandably startled to see tears in his eyes too and her shaky hand touched his damp cheeks.

"Dek?"

"I—I—," he stammered, searching for the words but settled for drawing her close and bending his head as she tangled her fingers in his hair and raised her lips to his.
The kiss was the same enacted all over the world of lovers who had come together after a period of absence—hot, heavy and full of longing.

Drew felt like she was drowning in his arms and she knew that this was where she had been longing to be for so very long now.

She made a noise of disappointment as Dek pulled away.

"No," she whispered and tried to pull him back, much to his amusement.

"I have to tell you something, Drew." Dek had been fighting within himself whether or not to tell her about him and Max, but it wasn't until he had been wrapped in her embrace again, after so long that he made the decision.

If he ever wanted a real relationship with his best friend he couldn't keep secrets from her.

And that was a big secret.

Drew took a step back and motioned for him to stop. "Before you say anything, I have something to tell you, too."

They stared at each other for a moment and Dek shifted from one foot to the other.

"Okay, um. Do you wanna go first?"

He was going to tell her, didn't mean that he had to do it right away.

Right?

He jammed a hand in his pocket and gestured for her to begin.

Drew took a deep breath.

"While I was gone, I was with someone," she paused looking at the way that not a flicker crossed Dek's face. "A male someone."

Nothing.

"We were together."

Nada.

Drew took a deep breath, unnerved by the silence coming from Dek. "His name's Ben and he's Max's brother…and Alec's twin. See I met him in Seattle and thought he was Alec and I was so glad to see him. But he kinda turned out to be someone else and we hit it off and he asked me to stay with him. We had a few settling issues, not the least the fact that he kinda went Hannibal Lector on me once or twice, but we just kinda… happened." Drew had been speaking so fast, twisting her hands with each passing second that Dek said nothing, that the majority of her words had come out as a blur.

Drew suddenly felt the need to clarify. "We slept together."

"I got that," Dek said stonily.

His gaze dropped to the floor and he scuffed his shoes on the hard stone floor, his eyes more shuttered that she could ever remember them being.

Drew reached out a hand but let it falter in the air, not sure if her touch would be welcome to him. She swallowed as her hand fell to her side again and she breathed out a long jagged breath.

"I didn't know you were alive," she whispered, "and he needed me. I'm so sorry, Dek. But for that time, I needed him, too. You weren't there."

She looked down, missing the way that he glanced up from under his long hair.

"I slept with Max."

Drew's head came up so fast, she stumbled back. "W-what?"

He shrugged sheepishly. "I have no right to be mad, or betrayed with you. I had no idea that you were alive and so I slept with Max."

Max? Max as in Max? Suddenly the odd look that had come into her eyes made sense. Max had slept with Dek.

Drew's stomach felt hollow.

Max?

Drew pointed at the office where she had left Max only moments ago. "Max? My Max?"

"What you have dibs on her? Coz I think that's Alec's domain."

"You and Max? You and MAX?"

Okay, she wasn't getting over this anytime soon.

Dek shrugged. "You and Ben. If it makes you feel any better, we only slept. No sex."

"Ah," Drew blushed suddenly losing the moral high ground. She might have known.

Dek grinned ruefully. "Right."

So Max and Dek hadn't actually done anything. Drew took a breath, thinking about this. For some reason she had been angrier at Max than Dek for what she had perceived a betrayal of friendship. She might have expected that Dek would find consolation elsewhere but not with Max, her best and first female friend.

It was so unlike Max to do that that Drew had, once again, felt her whole world going askew—just when she thought that it had righted itself.

But knowing that Max hadn't done anything like that, made things better in Drew's world.

"If it makes you feel any better, I missed you like crazy."

Dek shoved his hands further into his pockets. "Oddly enough, it really doesn't."

"You hate me?"

"Until my dying day."

Drew gaped and then caught the mischievous look in his eye. She reared back and punched him. Hard.

Dek captured the hand before it could leave and used it to pull her into him, cradling her cheek with his palm and tucking one long strand of hair behind her ear.

"Forgive me?"

"Yeah," she whispered. "Forgive me?"

Dek grinned wolfishly down at her. "Might take some convincing."

Drew reached up and tried to persuade him.

tbc...

Mega Thanks to everyone that reviewed. The next chapter was really hard and the only way I managed to get through it all was to re-read replies. So the next chapter is dedicated to all those who kept it going. Cheers and well done you!

Susanna Giboni- Check out my site which has pics of all the characters which should help keep them straight.

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A reader- Anna's gone off with Ralph- check out PO chapter 14.

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Werrieanna- Max is younger than most of Spec Ops but Chance is even younger. I think Max etc are 21 and Chance is 19. But don't quote me.

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Angelina- Thank you!

Kim- Drew is back here. You haven't missed out. But it would make more sense if you have read PO too.

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K8- We shall not be denied! Thank you!

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