Okey dokey. Yesterday was bad. I was working through some issues. Let's get our couple into some more usual trouble, eh?

April

"No. Absolutely not." Alec added a glare to emphasize it.

Max glared right back, and kept throwing clothes in her suitcase. "You know I have to go. There's no way around it."

"Of course there's a way around it. You don't go."

"Alec, this is a special senate committee hearing. They're talking about whether or not to grant us legal status. I've been subpoenaed and I have to be there to testify."

"We'll tell them you can't," he countered. "I can set up someone else to go with me. I-"

"Stop," Max ordered. "Just stop." She took a moment to center herself to keep from screaming at him. The doctors would yell at her again about her blood pressure. "I know this is about the baby."

Alec's jaw clenched. They were struggling to get back to normal after losing one of the babies. Over the past month they'd alternated between sadness, numbness, and anger, and Alec had settled on obsessively protecting her and the remaining twins to the point it was driving her insane.

"I get it," she said. She placed her hands over the barely visible swell of her belly. "I'm desperate to protect them, too. The thing is, going to this hearing is part of that. I have to secure their future. Right now, Secretary Gordon is in charge of Homeland Security and he's on our side. What happens when the administration changes? What if the next president or the next secretary thinks we're dangerous? I want to be legally recognized by then, and I want it ironclad. I don't want anyone to be able to take it away from us or from our kids."

"You think I don't know that?" he said, his voice inching higher. He must have heard it, because he took a calming breath. They'd been through some rough patches before in their marriage, but the last month had pushed them both. "I'm sorry," he finally said. "I'm just…"

"Worried?" she tried.

"Terrified," he admitted. Alec slumped down on the bed beside the suitcase Max had been packing. She pushed it aside and sat beside him. He held out his hand, palm up for her to take. Max grasped it and twined her fingers with his.

"We both have to go," she said, going for straightforward fact. "You know it and I know it. So stop being a drama queen."

Alec's lips turned up in a smirk. "I'm not the one who screamed at Mole for putting too much cream in your coffee."

"I needed coffee," she shot back. "Not a cup of cream."

"And that would be why Mole ended up wearing it?" He raised his eyebrows in question.

Max scrunched up her face. "I apologized, didn't I?"

"I'm just saying, I'm not the only drama queen around here." His amused expression fell. "I have to protect you, Max. I can't let anything else happen."

"I know," she said, squeezing his hand tightly. "I know."

"I'll kill the first senator that even looks at you funny. You know that right?"

"I'd be pissed if you didn't. I'm counting on full, unreasonable caveman Alec to defend his pregnant woman."

"Can I ask them to put that on my name tag?" he asked hopefully.

Max shrugged. "Sure."

Alec nodded. "Ok, then. Let's do this." He released her and stood, then started gathering clothes to throw in the suitcase along with hers.

Max stood as well, and together they got everything they would need for the trip. All the while, they talked, they made plans, and they got it all settled both for the hearing and for TC. It felt good to work as a team, and for the first time since they'd lost Baby Three, she felt like they were going to be ok. Yes, they'd lost something precious, and they'd never forget that, but that didn't mean that they'd lost everything. They still had something precious to protect, and they were going to do it together.

Max and Alec walked down the aisle toward the front of the chamber. The line of senators was up on their slightly elevated stand. A large group of press members were sitting or kneeling on the floor in between the senators and the table set up for the people who were testifying to sit. The flashes were almost blinding in their efforts to get the perfect shot of the transgenics as they walked in. Video cameras were also set up, already broadcasting live, so everyone could see what the Freaks were going to say on national TV.

Max and Alec moved toward the front, his hand at her back. He wore a dark suit and Max had chosen a bulky sweater with a nice jacket over it to hide her pregnancy. They weren't ready for the world to know yet, and they didn't want it to cloud the issue at the hearing.

They were followed by Fred and Barney, the two wolfish transhumans who were Max's personal guards. A hush had fallen over the room on their entrance, and it remained as they walked past the gallery which was crowded to the point of being stuffed. They pointed and stared, and Fred and Barney were getting as much notice as anything. They looked just wolfish enough to give the ordinaries an opportunity to stare at the freakier types of Freaks.

She knew Alec was nervous, although his face was as calm as ever. He looked slightly amused by the circus around them, but she could tell he was on high alert. They were all unarmed, which only added to the tension.

They reached the table, and Alec pulled out a chair for Max to be seated first. He then sat beside her. Barney and Fred took designated seats directly behind her. The only way they'd been allowed to bring the guards was to say they were there to offer testimony on behalf of the residents of Terminal City, so they couldn't exactly look like they were bodyguards, even though they were.

The senators were trying to keep their cool, but clearly they were uneasy at having the infamous Freaks in their midst. One man in particular was looking behind her, and she knew he was staring at Fred. The senator's eyes widened, and she guessed Fred had to be smiling to show off his set of razor sharp canines. It was one of his favorite things to do.

Max turned to glare at him, but then decided against it. Why should Fred hide his teeth? The government had made him that way. They could at least acknowledge what they'd done.

Max and Alec were sworn in, and then everyone turned their eyes to the senators, anxious to see how they were going to handle the situation now that they had the actual people in question in front of them.

"Good afternoon," the senator at the center of the group, Senator Franklin, said. He was an elderly man with a ruff of thin white hair and a pair of gold rimmed glasses. He was the chairman of the committee and he was the one they would have to convince if they were to have any hope of convincing the others. "Please state your names for the record."

"I'm Max Guevara."

"Alec McDowell."

The senator nodded. "Thank you for coming."

"Sure," she said, although a subpoena was a little less polite than a phone call.

"If you would also state your position in regards to the topic at hand?"

"My husband and I are here as representatives of Terminal City where we live with other transgenics who escaped from the government project called Manticore."

The Chairman nodded again. "We've called you here because of several requests for legal status as citizens. The residents of your… group have no official identity papers or documentation. Is that correct?"

"Yes," she answered. "We're considered undocumented aliens. We had to apply through Homeland Security for special papers in order to travel here. All of us have to do that just to move around Seattle legally."

He nodded. "We have spent the morning hearing testimony from various experts and government agencies on this subject. Members of the military, genetics experts, as well as representatives of various national security agencies."

Max and Alec were well aware. They'd been watching the proceedings from their hotel room prior to being summoned to the hearing. The military jerks had claimed no prior knowledge of the Manticore project, although they had since become aware of it, and they were absolutely horrified by what had happened. That said, the freaks produced there were all dangerous and shouldn't be allowed out among the general populace for fear they would start eating babies and infiltrating high security complexes.

Well… they were wrong about the babies anyway.

After that the committee had called a pair of genetics experts, one of whom obviously had issues with transgenics because he testified loudly and passionately that they were barely more than animals that were being anthropomorphized by the media. He used the example of pet owners who attributed human characteristics to their animals, even though they were no more than intelligent cats or dogs. At best, the transgenics were like gorillas that had been taught sign language, but when it came down to it, they were simply animals that could not be left on their own.

Max had almost punched the TV during that little bit of testimony.

The second geneticist had been a lot nicer about them, except for it was clear that she would absolutely love to get her hands on one of them for dissection. They were fascinating and should be protected for the advances in science that they represented.

After that, it had been a parade of intelligence people: FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, etc. Some said they were useful. Some said they were dangerous. Some said they needed to be watched, and giving them legal status would help with tracking them.

"Needless to say," Senator Franklin continued, "there have been many differing opinions."

"That's all right," Alec said with a friendly smile. "We have differing opinions on normal people, too."

"Is that a threat?" a different senator asked. His name was Baker, and he'd been an outspoken opponent to anything transgenic related. He was tall, handsome, and well spoken, so people had a tendency to listen to him.

"Oh, no," Alec said, all jovial pleasantness. "You seem like nice people. It's the ones who try to kill us when we go out that make us nervous."

"We have the reports. You're trained assassins," Baker replied belligerently. "How could you possibly be nervous?"

Alec's expression lost its pleasantness and became very serious. "Senator, I have lost count of the reasons. Setting aside the years we spent, and the things we endured while at Manticore, there's the riot that killed three of our people, and almost killed another, as well as my wife. My best friend died when he was beaten and strung up by his ankles over a bonfire by a different mob. We lost another friend in the Jam Pony hostage situation while we were trying to protect a pregnant transgenic from being arrested for existing. Since the government has allowed us to own Terminal City we have faced death threats, a bombing, poisonings and torture. Max and I had to come here with a full security team for fear of what could happen. Yes, sir, we are nervous."

There was a hush that fell over the room. Much of what Alec described had played out on national TV. Everyone knew about the incidents which had helped to gain them some much needed sympathy. Max was just sorry so much pain had been needed to get people to listen.

Baker pursed his lips, clearly wanting to say more, but Franklin stopped him. "We are aware of the unfortunate circumstances you've described. That does not mean, however, that you should be granted citizenship."

"Sir, my wife and I spent the morning listening to the testimony. They called us useful. They called us dangerous. They called us a menace, or an experiment gone wrong, or animals or soldiers, or assassins, or monsters. There was one thing they never called us."

Franklin waved his hand to tell him to get on with it.

"People," Alec said into the hushed room. "They never called us people."

Max cleared her throat. She was never going to be as comfortable as Alec in front of the cameras, or just talking in general as Alec was, but this had to be done. They had to make them understand.

"We were born in this country," she said. "Maybe not to loving parents, or even to parents at all in the traditional sense, but we were still born here. We were raised here. The only reason we don't have any legal status is because we were hidden away. No one was ever supposed to know about us."

"You think we're dangerous," Alec added, "but when it comes down to it, that doesn't matter one little bit. You can hear from every expert in the country on whether or not to recognize us, but only one thing matters. We were born here. Everyone from the President down to the lowliest street rat has citizenship if they're born in this country."

"You people seem to be doing well for yourselves," Baker cut in again. "What makes it so important to you?"

"Are your rights important to you?" Max asked, hostility inching into her tone.

Alec laid a hand on her leg. She was bouncing it in her agitation, and his touch was a reminder to calm down. This was too important to lose her temper.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Alec said, his tone respectful. "While we've been talking, I've referred to the woman beside me as my wife." He looked at each one of the senators. One looked bored. Some appeared mildly interested. A few were openly hostile.

"Yes?"

"We had a beautiful wedding, surrounded by our friends and family. The thing is, it's not recognized by anyone but us. We can't go to the courthouse, or get a marriage license. When we have children, there will be no recognition that they were born here. We have had several births in the past year, and these children have no legal status, just like their parents."

"Our lawyers are currently fighting deportation notices," Max said. "The government made us, and now it's trying to throw us out. Immigration officers have come to Terminal City several times demanding we produce papers or face immediate arrest and expulsion. Where are we supposed to go? We were born and raised here. We want to raise our kids here. All we're asking is that the government acknowledges what it did, and acknowledges us."

Everyone turned at the sound of a scuffle behind them. A man stood up several rows behind them. He was thin, with close cropped hair, wearing a suit that was several sizes too big. His wild eyes were what caught her attention, however.

He pulled a gun he'd somehow managed to sneak past the tight security and aimed it straight at Max. "How can you even listen to these things?" he shouted.

Fred and Barney began inching closer to him. The guards had stood as soon as they heard the shuffling. They were poised, ready to intervene at the first chance.

Alec stood and placed himself directly in front of Max. For once in her life, Max didn't argue at his need to protect her. She could sacrifice herself for others if needed, but right now, there were two lives directly depending on her staying alive. Alec knew that and felt exactly the same. The babies were the most important things now.

The gunman shifted his aim to the senators. "You people are supposed to protect us from these freaks of nature! And here you are listening to them!"

Max was watching him, peeking around Alec's side just enough to see. A wide circle had formed around him as terrified people tried to get away. Others were wisely heading for the exits, but that was making it difficult for the security people to reach the source of the problem.

"I voted for you Franklin," he said, zeroing in on the committee chairman. "You're a disgrace. You're listening to these monsters." His gun swung back toward Max and Alec. "They deserve to be put down like d-"

Fred pounced and Barney wasn't more than a heartbeat behind. Alec turned and wrapped himself around her as a human shield. She heard a shot, and then another, but she couldn't see, and no matter how she fought, Alec wouldn't let her move.

"We're clear!" Barney shouted, barely audible above the shouting as the spectators doubled their efforts to get out of the massive room.

After several moments, Alec finally relaxed his grip on her and uncurled from around her. He stood and then turned so they could both see what was happening. Fred was holding his side, where blood was easily visible. Barney was bleeding too, a graze running through his hair that was oozing blood down the side of his head and across his face. He was kneeling on top of the gunman, holding his arms twisted up behind him to keep him from moving.

One of the security team finally made it through the melee and produced a pair of cuffs. He snapped them on the gunman, and Barney rose. He and Fred then returned to stand on either side of Max and Alec. They weren't going to pretend any more that they were just another pair of Manticore alum willing to testify. They were lethal, they were angry and they were on guard duty. That they were bloody messes as well only added to the effect.

Max and Alec turned to see the senators beginning to peek out from behind their long raised desk. The media people were the only ones who hadn't moved and they were eating up every bit of the action.

"Is everyone all right?" Alec demanded. He was using his command voice, and everyone turned to pay attention. He looked around, gauging the situation. Fred and Barney were doing the same in case there was a second shooter. "Is anyone else hurt?" he asked again.

Senator Franklin rose from where he'd been hiding on the floor and returned to his seat. "In light of this, we'll have to continue at another time."

"No," Max shot back. "We're going home. You've seen what hate does. You have it right in front of you. You know exactly who we are, how we feel, and what we're asking. Either you'll do the right thing, or you won't. Now my friends are hurt. Once again, it's just us hurting. We're going to go and take care of them. Thank you for listening."

Alec helped her up. Together they walked to the back of the room and the double doors there. Fred and Barney stayed close, still on guard. No one dared try to stop them, or get in their way.

More tomorrow…