Hey everyone, glad you liked the last few chapters I look forward to hearing from you.. you're thoughts are welcomed and appreciated. :)

Alec had managed to gather three other X5's to help him with his mission. It was dangerous coming out of the city but they were willing to risk their lives for the woman that saved their own months ago. Like Alec, they held Max on a pedestal. She was the only one that saw through her genetic material enough to know she was still human, she was a leader, a friend and a damn good looking one at that.

The building had been right where Logan had told them. There were no guards outside, no security cameras, no light; if there were any people inside they went out of their way to make it look abandoned.

Alec signaled for the three to surround the building as he climbed up the ladder leading to the roof. It was eerie enough that the building had no outward signs of life, breaking and entering had never been so easy. These scientist jerks seemed willing to risk a lot in order to stay low, he thought to himself.

Locating the roof access he and another X5 circled it cautiously. Even with his advanced hearing there seemed to be no movement going on in the room below, so they dropped down into the darkness. It was dusty and damp. Clearly no signs of life were present in the room except for the two X5s and the various fungi growing over the walls. They listened to what sounded like a door slamming shut and the pair eagerly located the stairs leading to the main level.

Alec met up with the others and they all navigated silently down the steps. The hall it led to was dimly lit but it was clear there were people living on this level: it was immaculately clean, and the aroma of disinfectant stung their noses. Alec couldn't help but wonder if the others had felt the same flashback to the halls of Manticore as he just had but he shrugged it off quickly and concentrated on the task.

Two armed men patrolled down the hall past them and into one of the rooms where they heard them talking with another man. Their hearts fluttered with the anticipation of the mission as they spread out and moved in to investigate. Their intensive training paid off, and they were able to move about the building undetected.

X5494 moved effortless through the shadows, a hunter moving in on his prey. The adrenaline pumped hard through his veins and it made him want to slaughter every person in the building, but he swallowed it down and kept looking. He came to a halt quickly and looked around the corner into the east hall. There were three men standing outside a set of hospital doors and he could see the light shining through from within the room.

Something in his gut told him that he needed to get in that room. Alec burst forward, ignored the rules he had been drilled for so long, and approached the guards bravely with the others closely behind.

"Hey boys! I heard you were having tryouts for your football team and I wanted to sign up." He let the three grab him, "but if you'd rather fight...."

The X5s took the guards down quickly, but others came running towards them shortly after. Alec trusted them to hold them off and he kicked down the locked doors behind him.

**

Logan paced anxiously across his apartment and couldn't help but wonder what was taking so long. He ached to hear her voice again, see her smile. Even though he couldn't touch her he just wanted to hold her and tell her how brave she was and make the world safe for her to live in. Logan knew that would never happen. His Angel would always be surrounded by darkness and he knew in his heart that this wouldn't be the last time that he loses her.

There was nothing more he could do, it was in the hands of Alec now.

Logan sat at his table with a glass of wine, waiting for the most important phone call of his life.

**

The room was brightly lit when Alec entered, the glow of the industrial white walls and floor sent horrible memories through his spine as he cleared the room and peered through the next set of hospital doors.

There she was!

The room looked like something out of a bad science fiction movie. There were machines everywhere spewing out data on charts and graphs. On the other side of the room there were various testing contraptions; some that had been identical to the ones he saw at Manticore. A nurse had been filling one of her IV bags as Alec watched.

Time seemed to have stopped. She was lying on a hospital bed, monitors and needles coming out of every visible surface. On one arm they were pumping fluids into her and on the other pumping blood out of her frail body. She had been reduced to nothing, somebody's science project. The IV fluids she had been receiving were sedatives and psycho-actives, probably to keep her constantly incapacitated. It broke his heart to see her like this, after she fought so hard for them, for him.

Alec went numb as he faced his own demons and entered the room. He felt no remorse when he felt the crack of the nurses neck between his hands and he felt less when he let her fall to the ground.

"Max? Maxie, what did they do to you?" he whimpered as he pulled off her EKG leads. He touched her face and tried to wake her up...it was cold and pale.

The handsome X5 removed the rest of the catheters and monitors in a panic. He had never been so scared in his life.

He lifted her head to his chest and shook her gently but she didn't wake up. She was barely breathing.. an empty shell lying on the table before him. Alec swept his other arm under her knees and lifted her fragile body off the table, his heart skipping beats as he rushed her through the room and out the window to his car.

**

It had been a long drive home that night. Max stopped breathing and he had stop and do CPR twice. She was fading away in his arms.

**

Logan had a bed made up for her when they arrived. Alec was grateful to have her safe and placed her down gently on the bed, covering her with a few blankets and a heating pad.

"She's lost a lot of blood and I think her arm is broken," Alec said as he looked her over, "her hearts very faint and she needs blood."

Logan handed him a blood transfusion set and stood over Max as Alec prepared his arm. It was just so hard to see her when she was so close to death and he couldn't touch her. God, how he wanted to. He stayed until he couldn't bear it any longer then silently went to his room and shut the door.

**

Alec stirred a few hours later and unhooked the transfusion set. He softly pulled a strand of hair from her bruised face and tucked it behind her ear. He couldn't help but place his hand over hers to comfort himself. Her pulse bounded weakly against his strong hands. Over and over he asked himself why he was still here, Logan had people to take care of her too, but he knew it would be wrong to leave her.

She'd do the same thing for me.

"Looks like she's improved some," Logan said harshly, jealous that Alec could hold her like he wished he could.

"Yeah... looks like." Alec pulled his hand away quickly and stood, leaving the room to talk to him. He could sense the tension building between them. "It's going to be a rough recovery for her—she's been through a lot. I think we should take her back to Terminal City once she's stable so we can get the medics there to care for her.."

"I guess that would be best for her, she's too much of a target in a hospital now and..." he paused bitterly, "it's not like I can take care of her anyways without dying. "

Alec shrugged and went back into her room to watch over her. He wasn't much for the Logan Cale emotional roller coaster and he definitely didn't want to get involved. He was just being a good friend, the one he thought he should be for her since she did so much for him. She showed him how important it was to have people to care about and how to have a heart. It didn't matter if they were trained otherwise, this was the real world not Manticore. It was about time he accepted it.

A few hours later Max stirred and roused Alec from his thoughts. She wasn't moving much but it was a good sign and he smiled. He watch her lips tremble as she mumbled something into the blankets and he strained to make out what she was saying,

"Ben? I-Is that you.. am I … am I dead?"