Let me just say, Mega love to all my watchers and people who noted me privately of off FF about the story. I admit, I threw a tantrum over last chapter but when I get review after review of people telling me that it was just BAD I get a little defensive. Don't get me wrong, I'm open to constructive criticism by all means but just telling me: 'Yo you suck'...yeah I can get kinda pissed. XD

Needless to say this story is going to continue! With vengeance! XDDD

I already have the next chapter completed and possibly the one to follow. I'm not sure since it's rather short compared to all the others so I might try to juice it up some more. ^^

Anyways, Love as always and look for more ASAP! I'm out of school finally and after playing through Proto 1 to show my roomie and starting the second one again I'm all juiced up to write! -dances about-

- Love as always,
Primal

The night passed like a dream, a good one but a dream none the less. The alarm on her bedside stand sounded less like a wake up call and more like a stab to the temple. That alone was weird enough for Morgan since she knew she didn't have a hangover and usually the alarm wasn't so piercing. What became apparent as the seconds passed was that she was very much alone in her own bed...naked and alone in her bed. She sat up after punching her alarm and pushed her hair out of her face. Alex was gone. Where she had last remembered seeing him the sheets were thrown back and the spot was cold. Had she expected him to be there? She wasn't sure...some part of her had but the logical side laughed at her disappointment. Having procrastinated long enough she pushed herself up and left the bed. She noted that his clothes were gone from the floor as she moved to the bathroom and shook her head. Why had she expected him to be there again? This was probably typical for him.

Inside the bathroom she found that the space under her sink had been torn through which was made clear by the scattered piles of various bathroom sundries. The doors and even been left ajar. This had probably been what Alex had messed with the night before! Shocked, she quickly realized what he had done. On the counter was, of all things, an open box of condoms. She didn't even remember the last time she had bought them but he had clearly found some stashed away. She was astounded. Why would someone like Alex, known for having world class IMpatience have taken the time to grab protection? Sure some part of her was a little pleased of him but...why? She was on birth control …then again he didn't know that. Shrugging she let the discovery go and turned on the water to take a hot shower. She needed to push the night away and face the fact that…she had work in a few hours and the last time she had been there she left with bullets biting her heels...

The rest of the morning went quietly by. Apart from using obscene amounts of cover up on her neck (which looked like someone had tried to choke her in the night) her routine was unchanged. Breakfast only consisted of some coffee and toast since her stomach was churned at the thought of work. Had they seen her face? Gotten her name? Was it even safe to go back? Finally, she decided she had no choice and that avoiding work would look more suspicious than going back and pretending like nothing had happened. Grabbing her ID, keys and bag she set her sights on the door. Just as she reached for the handle it turned and the door swung open. She narrowly avoided it and came face to face with Alex.

The silence that followed was the single most awkward moment she had ever shared with him. The door shut softy behind him and after an initial moment of eye contact they both quickly looked to the floor. Morgan fought several urges to speak, bailing out at the last moment because she felt like whatever she had to say was just...well...stupid. Hours seemed to tick by and never once did he take the opportunity to say anything. Finally, Morgan just scurried out the door.
The last time she had been in such an uncomfortable situation had been in 11th grade. She thought nothing would have topped having her deepest feelings for the student valedictorian read over the intercom but this was a definite challenger. Today was turning into a day of surprises and that prospect had her pouting on her walk to work. However in an attempt to avoid even more surprises Morgan stopped a local coffee shop and stole their bathroom. The memories of the previous day were still fresh in her mind, as well as what had happened when she passed one of the now dubbed 'tuning fork' machines. They could detect Alex's virus, it had to have been what set it off when she dashed past it. Not wanting a repeat she changed her clothes and quickly left. She stashed her original outfit in the bag she had brought and hid that in a rarely used alley just a block from Gentek. If she had any luck it would still be there when she finished working. With a little more confidence and composure under her belt she headed to the front gates to face the Blackwatch troops. However she was startled when she and everyone else were informed that the machines were 'malfunctioning'. However they weren't without a back up plan. The troops had handheld scanners but after every 5th person they had to be reset. This slowed down the scanning severely and led to a lot of misplaced anger from the troops. Luckily, Morgan's scanning went through without any hiccups and she was allowed inside without any special attention. Relief was her companion all the way up to her locker where she grabbed her lab coat, some gloves and checked her schedule that had been freshly printed and left inside. However that was were she met yet another problem. There was no schedule for her.

She searched her locker, wondering if it had slipped under something, fallen into a crevice…nothing. She peeked back out at her colleagues who all schedules in their hands. But before she could ask if anyone had accidentally been given hers (a common accident) a gloved hand grabbed her shoulder and snapped her around. Her breathe caught in her throat as she met the masked face of a trooper; one of two.
"Ms. Miller?" The first hissed through his mask. The entire locker room had their eyes on her now which was not helping her heart come back down into her chest. No…no this was NOT good…
"Y-yes?" She said softly, trying to find something to bring her back down to earth. She couldn't think of a thing.
"We need to speak with you immediately. Please follow us." The other hissed before moving to escort her. The first one of the pair to talk and also the taller of the two took the lead while his shorter counterpart pushed Morgan between them. She had no choice but to follow and tried her best to avoid her colleagues questioning gazes. They took her to a room she had never seen or knew they had, one without windows and dull, peeling paint. She even swore that the stupid overhead light was flickering a little. The short troop behind her pushed her into a chair by a table while the taller troop sat on the opposite side. He opened some files they had laid out while Mr. Shorty took guard at the door. Morgan glanced at him, her blood starting to run cold before she looked back to her assumed interrogator. He was laying out some paper, mostly innocent documents like her work history, application to Gentek and even her college transcripts. He then started to pull out some other things but his questions distracted her.

"Are you familiar or affiliated with a Cadence Owen?" He breathed as he shut the folder and held a few things in his hand.
"Um yes…she's a friend of mine. We used to work together as well until she was promoted a few months back." She answered as she tried to see what he was holding onto.
"Are you aware that she has been in contact with a potentially hazardous and even deadly biological agent?" He continued as Morgan raised an eye.
"I wouldn't be surprised…we were at a genetic engineering company. That sort of thing actually becomes rather common." She laughed weakly. She shut up pretty fast because even with that mask he looked…un-amused.
"Are you aware that she claims she came into contact with this agent through you?" That caught her attention and made her heart drop. Cadence had sold her out…?
"I…what?"
"We scanned her at 1300 hours yesterday after a security breach. She claims she was clear of the agent before contact with you…." He was starting to lay out the papers he had in his hand, it becoming clear that it was pictures he had. They were of her, shots from a security camera of her and Cadence outside the loading bay planning her escape. There were more images of her running from the grounds and some of her vanishing outside the gates. Maybe coming into work had been the wrong idea.
"Why exactly did you resign before your scheduled time yesterday around 1300 hours Ms. Miller?" He hissed, voice becoming hard. "I have enough evidence on this table to put you away for a couple of decades. Do you realize how many protocols you violated with this little stunt!? Why exactly did you LIE to TWO officers and involve another employee in unauthorized departure!? Why was it that Ms. Owens was so quick to point her finger at you Ms. Miller!?" He just kept throwing questions at her without any break between his sentences and with each one his voice rose into a harder and louder pitch. Even if she had wanted to answer, to try and explain she didn't have a chance. When he finally stopped his barrage of questions she opened her mouth to answer but just managed a squeak. Admittedly, that was partially due to the 'woosh' of the door suddenly flying open behind her. The man guarding it jumped and swung around to aim the gun at whoever had just given him an equally as sudden heart attack.

"Mr. Donavan…" Morgan breathed when he appeared, the Blackwatch troop dropping his gun and saluting the man. Morgan found that to be rather odd but forget it once she saw how angry her usually placid boss looked.
"Ms. Miller will have to be excused for the time being Captain...we have some VERY SERIOUS terms that must be discussed immediately." Well shit…from the frying pan and into the fire she went.
"Sir, what I am conducting here is just as important if not mor-"
"DON'T TALK BACK TO ME YOU HIGH SCHOOL DROP OUT!" Donavan snapped at the man. "I could have you fired in a millisecond if I wanted to! You and all you other drones have been complicating matters since you arrived! ALL over someone who we all know is dead!"
"SIR!" That made the trooper jump from his chair but he soon grew silent.
"I will return Ms. Miller to you once I have finished my discussion with her. Now…Morgan you need to follow me." He hissed as he motioned for her to come. She did so, preferring her pissed off boss over the two men with the guns. Silently she followed, shocked at how fast the man could move and struggling at times to keep up. Into the elevators and up to his office they rose, passing several more troopers and employees who eyed Morgan with suspicion. When they got to his office he told her to shut the door, which she did before facing a whole new round of tension and worry. What else could they possibly have on her?

"Sit." He barked as he dropped into his desk chair and watched her. She did so but couldn't help but feel like a teenager being sent to the principal's office. He took a moment, pulling out some papers just like the trooper had though far fewer. "Ms. Miller…you have been working for us for over 4 years now correct?" He began slowly. Morgan nodded, shocked to realize that anniversary had passed months ago. It had been something she had planned on celebrating and now…it seemed like such a petty thing. She had bigger problems now…
"Then….please explain something to me. Why, after four years of extremely loyal and, may I say, successful work have you suddenly decided to break into our facilities? In addition in order to conduct unauthorized research, steal said research and FURTHERMORE destroy one of the most expensive pieces of machinery this company owns!?" She was left sitting in shock, mind devoid of any intelligent come backs or explanations.

They knew.
They had found out…

"I…I…" She sounded like an idiot. "I'm sorry sir…I don't know what to say…" She watched as he spread out some papers, most just computer print outs showing someone accessing the system and typing in command codes to run the RX-120. The coding ended rather suddenly, mostly with angry error codes and random computer script before it bugged out and stopped. In addition to that the man had several photos, not from Gentek's camera but rather camera's on other buildings around them from the night of the break in. What frightened her more than anything though was the fact that Alex was even in a few of them…
"Ms. Miller, we would like to know who this man is…" He hissed then, leaning back in his chair as he folded his arms across his chest.
"I….I don't know." She rushed, trying to come up with something good. If it came down to being fired or killed…she would chose being fired.
"Ms. Miller…"
"Seriously! I don't know…he…he was just some guy; He jumped me a few months back-" Not a total lie there. "And he knew I worked here. He demanded that I get him a couple grand or he would kill my parents. He's some sort of sociopath or drug addict or something. I thought I could go to the cops but he watches the house and I was too afraid to do anything. He finally told me I could get him the money by stealing chips from the company. I thought the RX would be the best bet but I screwed up the machine trying to get to it…." She could tell by Donavan's face he wasn't buying it one bit. "I thought maybe if I turned it on I could type in some code to get the thing to open up but…I just broke it. I panicked after that and just grabbed some of the other chips from the machines in the room…I thought they would be worth a quick buck."
"Ms. Miller….I don't tolerate liars…" His voice frightened her more than the troopers had. He was so angry… even threatening in a way. "You are permanently suspended from Gentek. Your employment will be terminated pending a hearing that you will be informed of within the week." He started to clean up the papers and put them back into a folder. "Two Blackwatch troopers will escort you home once you clean out your locker. Leave your ID card and ALL company property inside and lock it." He finished before rising and pointing to the door. "If you are caught on company property again before the hearing you will be held in prison until your hearing. Do I MAKE myself CLEAR?" He snapped as Morgan slowly stood and nodded.
"Yes sir."
"Good. Now get out." He hissed as he watched her hurry out. She was going to have to tread lightly from here on out. After all she still had a few things to do…

Morgan rushed through the building, avoiding guards and anyone she knew as she made her way back to her old work station. She had set up a program shortly before she ran away the day before. It was a background program that ran on very little processing power so it was easy to hide. The only downside was that it was slower than grass growing and had to run overnight. Now that she was fired she had to retrieve whatever data that it had collected before Donavan got a hold of it. It was a quick trip: flash drive in, drag and drop the program data, flash drive out. She unplugged the computer after that, grabbed some pencils, pens and papers from her desk to keep from looking too out of place then bolted for her locker room. There she changed, throwing her lab coat inside but ignoring Donavan's order to leave her ID card. She tucked that away in her bra, not wanting the troopers who were to escort her home snatching it. She hid the flash drive too before picking out some innocent enough personal items from her locker and shutting it. It was just as she finished that the troopers arrived and luckily they weren't the same ones from that morning. The looked through the objects she had taken out of her locker, cleared those then moved to walk her out. The silence between the three was unsettling as they walked but after a while she could tell that one of the troopers seemed to be...holding something back. It was like he wanted to talk about something but couldn't. One kept looking to the other and when he did the other shook his head as if to shut him up. When they reached the lobby the one eager to talk finally broke down and started to speak up.
"So….did you hear?"
"Evans, don't." His friend hissed but he insisted.
"I can't help it man, I just...it's freaking me out. There are PICTURES." Evans hissed as they started out the door. Morgan didn't ask if they knew were her house was, the two seeming to know already as they turned to head down the right street; creepy.
"Evans!"
"No! I'm sorry I'm talking about it. It's not like she has any idea." He snorted as Morgan made a face.
"I am sports illiterate." She hummed softly which made them both look back. Another period of silence followed before the Evans guy broke again.
"It's Zeus…he's really still alive…"
"EVANS!" His friend snapped again. They were not authorized to talk about this! "I think you believe in the rumors too much. Did you even see the pictures?"
"Well no but…Freewell did and he said there is no doubt. All the higher ups are freaking out too." He hissed softly as they continued along. Zeus?
"Freewell talks shit all the time, you should know that by now. Didn't he tell you once that you were getting promoted?"
"Yeah he did that little fucker. But this is different man! Freewell was there…right at the end. He saw him before the bomb. Sure it was for just a second but when I saw him? Right after he saw that picture? The man was as white as a ghost. I've never seen anyone shaken up that badly."
"He's full of shit man…he likes to talk big. You know he didn't get to NYZ until a month after the nuc."
They had to be talking about Alex….and they had some sort of code! Alex had a code name! The hell was going on!?
"That's what I'm SAYING man!" Evan insisted then. "Freewell knew this WHOLE time he was still alive and kicking! But no one ever believed him."
"Shit. It's all shit Evans I'm telling you." His friend sighed before they stopped. It didn't feel like a long conversation but somehow they had arrived back at Morgan's place.

"We're here." Evans friend hissed as he turned back to Morgan and gave her a little push with the muzzle of his gun.
"Do you mind?!" Morgan snapped as she moved to her door. "Don't touch me with that thing." She reasoned as the men watched her.
"Watch your tone bitch! Get in the house!" Evans snapped then as he raised the gun and gestured for her to get going. She glared but hurried on in after unlocking the door. Once inside she locked it back and slide down to sit on the floor. She took a moment, wanting to reel in all this new information before she realized...they were still out there. She turned her head and pressed her ear to the door in hopes of hearing them better.
"Fucking bitch." Evans was snorting. "You know she's in the picture with him…"
"Evans…"
"No man I mean it! That's what Freewell said."
"Well I guess that makes more sense now why we have to stay here and guard the god damn place. They must think he's snooping around here for some reason."
"Must be….hey man if she makes a break for it I call the shot. Bitch got away from me yesterday and I'm not about to screw up again." He chuckled as he messed with the gun some.
"You're twisted man. You know we weren't given permission to kill her, just...slow her down."
"Hey, sounds like the same definition to me." Evan chuckled deeply.

Morgan leaned forward away from the door, unable to stomach listening to them anymore. They…they could kill her. They wanted to kill her! If she attempted to leave they would try and it was okay and one of them was even looking forward to it. She started to shake, realizing all at once her life could very well be over. She had lost her job, there were men with guns at her door wanting to shoot her, Alex was out of the bag and she still had go to a trial due to her job. She shut her eyes, a hand going over her mouth as she suddenly started to cry and even sob a little. The hell was wrong with her!? She knew she was scared but she had no reason to break down like this! Yet, at the same time she couldn't help it. For the first time in her life she was truly, completely terrified for her continued living. She didn't know what to do or where to go. It just felt over. She slammed her eyes shut as the crying got worse and soon just hide her head in her hands. What was she going to do?

She was shaken from the grave she was burying herself in when someone touched her. Their hands had moved to rest on her arms which made it was clear to her that whoever it was, was close. She half screamed and jerked away, ending up on her side as she looked towards whoever it was.
"Lord women." It was Alex, just Alex...how had she forgotten about him? "The hell is wrong with you? What happened?" He asked as he rocked back and sat on the floor but kept an eye on her. However before she could speak he held up a hand, the man hearing the pair outside her door.
"The hell was that?"
"Who knows, probably just the TV. Chill out Evans…"
Morgan looked petrified and as Alex looked back to her he narrowed his eyes in worry and moved to get her up on her feet.
"Come'on…" He whispered as he helped her up and hurried her into the living room. He cranked the TV volume up, figuring that was a wise idea even if it did make talking hard. "Morgan the hell is going on? Is…are Blackwatch troopers out there?" She gave a stiff nod and made a point to actually stay rather close to him, a detail that was not lost to Alex. "Morgan…what the hell happened today?" He demanded softly as they settled into the couch a little. With a sniff and a sigh she started to explain how her day had gone after she had left that morning. First with the scanners, which she felt was the only luck she had found that day, followed by the troopers confronting her about Cadence and finally to Donavan. She made sure to point out to him that he was in the photos as well which upset him the most but that made sense. To finish things up she ended with the troops and what she had heard them saying about her.
"That explains why you were crying." He snorted as he kept his head I his hand. It was a lot for even Alex to hear and process.
"I think it excuses me." She laughed weakly as she wiped her eyes again then pulled her legs up to her chest. "Alex...the men…they were talking about you. I know they were….but they were calling you Zeus…why?" She asked then, catching him a bit off guard.
"Morgan now is really not the time..."
"I saw it before too…when I was running the tests on the RX… It was some classified screen with a lot of blocked information but one of the tabs was labeled Zeus…" She continued to push before he looked up and gave her a small glare.
"Aren't you dealing with enough right now?" He pointed out as she looked to the floor.
"I just….why do they know about you? Just…have you dealt with them before? I know you worked for Gentek before and were in NYZ. I just want to know…" She wasn't digging for a life history just something to quell that part of her brain.

"Yes…yes I've dealt with them before. I'm Zeus." He sighed then, not in the mood to fight with her. His brain was reeling from everything she had just told him. Morgan looked to him then and smiled a little, happy he had been honest with her about this. She felt herself relax a little with the news, enough so that she ended up leaning into him a little on the couch. Alex looked at her though, raising an eye and trying to shift away a little.
"What are you doing…?" He muttered, voice hinted with something that sounded like unease. She realized this was not his sort of thing but…ironically enough he was what she felt was safe at this point.
"Look, I realize this isn't your sort of thing Alex but…I haven't exactly at the easiest day. There are two sociopaths outside my house talking about shooting me and being excited about it. I realize you may have had to deal with people shooting at you before but I haven't." She explained with a bit of a tone. "So if you would just..."
"Alright, alright…" It didn't make sense to him why this would make her feel better but he didn't really feel like arguing with her. So, for the following few hours the pair stayed on the couch and watched TV, Morgan resting into Alex's side while he put his arm on the back of the couch. Nothing was said, nothing was done as the hours ticked away. An odd, slightly unsettled peace fell over the house as the sun slowly set. It was hard to describe any other way. Morgan felt safe, comfortable even but at the same time she felt like the walls around her would be shattered by bullets at any second. After a time she looked to her phone, frowning at all the texts from Cadence and ignoring them all so she could check the time. It was so late…
"You should eat something."
The silent hours had made Alex's voice almost sound like a strange echo but it still drew her eyes.
"I'm not exactly hungry…" She admitted as she shifted away from him and rubbed her arms some. She felt so shaky and sick. "Thirsty maybe…but…" She put her head into a hand and took a breath.
"What's wrong…?"
"I feel sick." She admitted as she shut her eyes. Was it because she hadn't eaten? Maybe she should try…
"Morgan I think you're in shock…" Alex sighed as he sat up some and looked at her. He should have paid attention to this type of thing. "You need to eat and drink a little something." She watched as he stood and glanced towards the kitchen.
"Alright, well…" Morgan rose as well but when she did she almost fell down. She swayed some then dropped to sit on the couch just as Alex moved towards her.
"I think you better stay on the couch…" He reasoned as he glanced back to the kitchen. "I'll make something…" That got Morgan to snort as she stretched out on the couch.
"I'll manage." Alex hissed as he headed in and started to look around. What could he fix that wouldn't end up being toxic….

Some time later Alex managed to actually cook something without completely destroying the dish…well…at least not all of it. He had ended up reheating some things Morgan had stashed from previous dinners but the breadsticks hadn't made it through their microwave adventure. That aside Morgan was surprised and pleased when he brought her a plate.
"Thank you." She hummed as she sat up slowly and dove right in. She was hoping that eating would make her little tremors and nausea go away. Alex just gave a nod in response and sat at the end of the couch as he too ate. Like the rest of the evening, dinner was silent but once bellies were full the frightening edge of the evening faded. Alex took the dishes into the kitchen and cleaned up before he returned and tried to reclaim 'his' couch. Morgan needed to go to her own room and sleep and he…well…he needed to go and check out Gentek at some point. At least that had been his initial plan. When he returned to the couch Morgan ended up against his side again which he hadn't been counting on. He grew a little stiff and looked at her, waiting for her to move or explain but she didn't.
"Morgan…?"
"What? You're not comfortable with my touching you unless I'm naked?" She snorted as she glanced up to him. She noticed he was smirking some and his eyes were glowing a little. Slowly he looked towards her as a hand slipped to touch her back.
"Well…" She groaned and started to move away from him. "What!? Now you're moving away?" He snorted as he watched her sit up. His hand slipped some then, trailing down her back some. "You know that some people say that sex helps you relax…" He hummed as Morgan fought a shiver. Her back was a tad bit sensitive.

"Oh yeah? Where did you hear that?"
"I say it all the time." He hummed back, tugging on the ends of her hair lightly. That made her shiver too. Damn it.
"Alex I really don't think this is going to help my stress level. I should probably just go to bed…" She pointed out. She started to get up to do just that but before she could Alex had found a way to distract her. His hand had slipped up into her hair but rather than pull it or do anything mean he was actually giving her head a massage. She paused, not able to deny it felt pretty nice. She dropped back onto the couch, sitting and turning her back to him as she leaned into his hand. Well if she would get a bit a massage out of this…

Alex let his hand stay on her scalp, massaging there lightly as he watched Morgan slowly become puddy. After a time he used his other hand to help her into his lap, sitting her there with her back to him as he continued. When he felt like he could get away with it he shifted his hand from her hair, moving then both down her back to her waist then back up to her shoulders. He worked the muscles there and kept an eye on her, watching as she smiled and let her head roll forward. This she agreed with, this helped with stress. However like most things Alex started, there was a reason and a goal to his motives. This was most definitely the case with their moment. A few minutes of shoulder work and he lunged, his hands raking down her sides before slipping around her waist and down her legs. She shuddered at that and moaned when his hands turned into the insides of her thighs. She fell back against his chest as Alex smirked. He turned his head some to give her shoulder some attention as his teeth bit lightly. Slowly the bites on her shoulders moved up to her neck until his face was buried in her hair. She shifted back on his lap more, struggling through the movement since he had started nibbling on her ear. Damn him. Damn him in getting his way ALL the TIME. She reached around as he continued messing with her ear, her hands tangling in his hair and pulling as his hands stroked. It didn't wasn't long after that Alex shifted them again, this time so he could pin Morgan on the couch for awhile. He kept her close, teeth and lips on her neck while his hands ran along her sides and legs. Morgan wasn't much better, her hands tearing at his jackets some while taking any chance she had to grind against him. However once that started up he snapped and was on his feet, Morgan in his arms.

"Someone's in a hurry." She snorted, figuring she'd let this one go…hell he had gotten her in the mood anyways. Plus she didn't think she could tell him no if she wanted to right now.
"Don't even." He snorted as he carried her up the stairs to her room. There would be no teasing, no playing around this time.