THE COTTAGE
Maple Falls
August 2025
Asha had described the route to them in detail. Max and Alec were still walking side by side in silence.
Everything was already organized and safe there. The goal was getting closer and closer.
The plan to get to Maple Falls undetected seemed to be a success.
They had a day's walk ahead of them, but thanks to their souped-up genes they should be able to do it in about half the time.
Max suddenly had a strange, sinking feeling in his stomach.
She broke the silence: "We have to change the route, something is wrong here".
Alec nodded. He also had the feeling that someone was on their trail and he wasn't too keen on getting into an ambush or even a fight with the kid on his back.
They changed the route and, contrary to the original plan, did not go through the forest and the impassable terrain but rather like a nice little family on a walk along the coast.
That took time.
So they reached Fairhaven towards evening and decided to look for something here so they could spend the night in shelter.
It wasn't easy in the middle of the city, so they decided to use the underground like in Seattle and went down a small side street into the sewers.
It was stuffy and damp here, but they knew the routes of such tunnels only too well and they quickly found a plateau where there was a junction with all the pipes, the inlets and, as always, a large area where you could stretch out could and stayed dry.
Alec took Seth out of the carrier and the little one sat silently on the railing and watched the many streams that came together in countless waterfalls. He was tired and so he waited patiently for a small meal and a place to sleep.
Ben, on the other hand, needed a little more attention now. He was sweating again. Max pulled out the bottle of pills and opened the medicine with a worried look.
Alec also looked worriedly at the smallest member of the group.
He fiddled with his luggage, quickly picked out the essentials and already had a bottle ready.
In the meantime, Max had taken Ben out of the cloth and walked around with him a little.
She didn't want to say goodbye to her little miracle that came into her life in such a strange way.
She knew that this path they had just embarked on would soon mean a separation from her children and she tried to detach herself from this thought and absorb every little movement, every look from her children in order to memorize this image and always in her thoughts to be able to wear.
Alec was still plagued by his flashbacks. Individual scenes kept flashing through his mind. He still couldn't figure out what it all meant, but he tried to stay calm, not let it show and, as always, suppress his own traumas.
He was internally tormented by various experiences but rarely allowed anyone to get close to him.
Max had seen his torment and suffering a while ago. To her, however, he now seemed to want to hide even more what was going on inside him so as not to completely lose his facade.
She looked over at him: "Alec can you hurry up, Ben needs his tryptophan".
"Impatient as always," he hissed somewhat unconvincingly, trying to appear cool.
It didn't quite work, because she seemed to be able to read his concern in his eyes. As if she could see into his innermost being.
Max had just looked at him impatiently, but now she also averted her gaze as if she were uncomfortable connecting with him so strongly.
She always did it like that. Aloof, cool in her black biker outfit. She seemed aloof and if you dared to get too close you had the feeling that in the next moment she would extend her claws and scratch your eyes out.
Max turned away. Just as she looked at Alec, she felt a dull, strange feeling in her stomach. She had been struggling with this feeling for some time and tried to blame it on what the two of them had experienced together recently. But as always, he was careful to keep her at arm's length when it came to feelings. That was fine with her because there had been misunderstandings between her and Logan in the past, while she was carrying a virus that could have killed Logan, Logan had suspected she had fled into a relationship with Alec.
Alec had played the game back then and not betrayed her, but now this idea somehow seemed to take up a space that she couldn't classify. Now everything was ready. She gave Ben his medicine and bottle and Alec sat Seth down next to her and gave him his meal too.
He then handed her a sandwich and helped himself to some of her supplies.
They ate in silence, trying to avoid eye contact.
"Wonderful picnic!"
As always, Alec tried to be sarcastic to cover up his feelings, but this time Seth replied:
"Yes, it's nice here, Uncle Alec. We are on a great deserted island with waterfalls. This is a real adventure."
Max smiled and admired this childish naivety. She wishes she could internalize this perspective and actually relax a little.
Alec and she were highly trained military fighting machines but despite everything they were more human than some normal people. All the heartless training in her childhood had failed to dispel that spark of humanity.
It quickly became dark down in their hiding place, because the light sources were small and rare, and so they had to set up a little place to sleep and try to use some time to calm down.
"I'll take first watch, lie down with the boys," Max said, her tone brooking no argument.
Since Alec was quite tired from his chaos in his head, he accepted this instruction as he had previously learned in his time in Manticore and no longer tried to refute his training by contradicting him.
He took the boys over and laid them on a blanket so that he could take a protective position in front of them and fell asleep almost as quickly as the two tots.
Max sat down at her post with her back against one of the cold concrete walls and tried to keep an eye on all the entrances to her hiding place. Thanks to her cat genes, she was able to see well even in the dark.
But the day and the events of the last few days and weeks had taken a toll on her.
She jumped up.
Did she just doze off briefly or did she sleep for a long time?
Was there someone calling her name?
She looked around carefully and couldn't see anything except Alec, who was lying protectively in front of her children.
Had he called her name in his sleep?
That seemed more than inappropriate to her and so she nudged him with the tip of her foot to swap places with him.
Alec woke up and was shocked when he realized that his dream had not really happened. He lolled theatrically to distract and whispered:
"Then let's swap, Miss Sergeant."
She looked at him askance but didn't really want to know what naughty things in his head made him call her name in a dream in the middle of the night.
They swapped places and Max curled up in the spot where Alec had previously lain. A little bit of his warmth could still be felt and so she couldn't think long about why he had said her name but fell asleep straight away, almost comfortably.
Alec looked at the group for a while and pondered his thoughts before concentrating on listening carefully to see if he could detect anything suspicious so that he could react quickly.
Ben, however, started smacking his lips back there in the sheltered corner and making little baby noises.
For a moment Alec didn't know how to react to this, but he acted surprisingly instinctively. He quickly gathered everything he needed for a bottle and silently fished the little one out between Max and Seth.
Now he consciously held the little bundle in his arms for the very first time and a strange feeling flowed through him. He couldn't place it but looked gently at the little one. Ben seemed to know Alec through and through. His little eyes looked into his heart and reflected all the feelings Alec had felt for this little guy from the beginning.
Alec was frightened by this deep look and tried to quickly give Ben his bottle and his tryptophan so that he could put him back next to Max.
While the little one was contently eating his meal, warm and safe, Alec let a tear roll down his cheek. He had a deep feeling of loss, like a stone in his stomach, but he still couldn't understand why it happened.
Ben quickly fell asleep after he finished eating and Alec gently put him back in the safe corner behind Max without waking Seth or her.
He sat like that for a few more hours and waited until daylight slowly managed to reach them in the depths.
He woke up Max.
"Are you ready, Sleeping Beauty?"
Max grimaced.
"As long as you're not the prince who kisses me awake." "I'll show you how to get ready quickly in the morning, because I don't care about my hairstyle here."
Alec had just briefly stroked his hair and let some water that was reasonably clean, but nice and cold, run over his hands.
He was now ready to start and Seth quickly came to him and crawled into the back carrier.
"Let's go Uncle Alec."
The little one now urged the two of them to hurry up and behaved as if he already knew full well that he couldn't do any nonsense in this situation.
Alec handed him a small sandwich and swung him onto his back with the stretcher, then all he heard from Seth was a satisfied smack.
Max had already wrapped Ben in the cloth and tied him tightly to her chest when a perplexed expression crossed her face.
"What's going on?" asked Alec, who was trained to be able to immediately recognize the slightest facial changes.
"He's so quiet and content, normally…."
"I did it tonight," Alec said immediately.
He surprised himself that he immediately acknowledged his sense of duty.
Max raised an eyebrow and looked at him in disbelief.
"How did you manage that?"
"Now don't act as if I'm completely useless, I too have qualities."
Max laughed: "Yes, at least you know how to become a father and have been able to avoid it in your countless affairs so far."
"That was a low blow," he said, acting as if it had hit him.
But he was secretly happy to be able to hide his emerging feelings and his recurring memories of the last year and therefore accepted the situation as it was.
He started walking without paying any further attention to Max.
She quickly grabbed the backpack and locked herself in, after all the mission had to be completed today.
Her heart felt heavy at the thought but it also fueled her because all she wanted was the safety of her children.
They rose back to the surface undetected and went to complete their mission.
Unnoticed or precisely because they followed the path so openly and without hiding, invisibly, they quickly got out of the city and now they could get started.
They started running. Thanks to their transgenetic modification and years of training in an inhumane environment, they were able to run and run without having to take breaks.
At this speed and with only two short breaks to look around and orient themselves and another short break to drink and eat, they covered the way to just before the small, sleepy village of Maple Falls in record time.
Any normal person would have needed another day.
The small group now reached the village limits before dusk.
"Asha should be hiding here somewhere," said Max, already looking around.
"You don't think she'll be here at the entrance to the town to welcome us, do you? We probably won't even meet them in person."
"Then use your pea brain and tell me what we should do now, after all we can't stay here like oil idols."
"First I'll find a place for you to wait and then I'll see what I can find."
Max wasn't keen on the idea of being taken somewhere safe like a house mother. But she couldn't quickly think of a solution that would emphasize her emancipation in this situation, so she agreed, albeit reluctantly.
A few minutes later they saw a small, beautiful, very hidden, almost idyllic niche hidden under the fir trees at the edge of the forest.
Here Alec left the three of them and almost hurried off. He was able to walk a few meters as if he were on a walk.
He didn't want to worry Seth, so he kept up the appearance of an adventure trip.
But when he was sure he was out of sight, he sprinted off and combed the surrounding area at lightning speed.
Asha must have left clues somewhere to guide them to the right refuge.
He thought about what she had said before she disappeared that time.
Before Logan contacted her to organize this escape, she had already left the city of Seattle months ago to get some peace and quiet and escape from the enemy's field of fire.
Back then, she had worked in the background to free Max and Alec and then left.
She was scared and could no longer imagine continuing to act with her protest group "S1W".
She had talked about Maple Falls, the little cottage and the big oak tree in front of the porch of the little house.
It couldn't be that hard to find.
He didn't run through the town but along the outskirts to behind the small, sleepy village. Everyone would probably have looked at him skeptically if he had wandered through the streets as a stranger, searching, because it didn't look like vacationers would get lost here.
It was rural, far from being back in good condition, although the pulse was now many years old and it didn't look like anything was going to change in the near future.
Exactly what they were looking for for the children. But at the moment it was also dangerous because everyone who met him would remember him.
Now he could see a small house in the distance at the end of the path out of the village. At the far end of the horizon stood a small country house and in front of it on the hill there was a large oak tree.
That was it. Asha's tip to find it.
He quickly set out to get Max, Seth and Ben so that he could finally hand the children over to their safe, new home, now under the protection of the oncoming darkness.
Max sat there under the fir tree, tried to keep Seth calm for a while, but after just a few minutes he was jumping around the tree again and again and playing hide-and-seek with his little brother. Ben was awake and happy every time his brother appeared on the other side of the tree. He cheered and this encouraged his brother to change sides faster and faster. It was also clear that he was faster and more agile than normal children would have been, because he now peeked out from behind the tree every second, once on the left and then on the right.
Then Alec appeared again. He gave her a somewhat punitive look but refrained from commenting because he knew Max wouldn't let that go unanswered.
"Found it," he said curtly instead.
He was packing Seth back into the carrier and was about to leave when he noticed Max's expression, which didn't seem as pleased as he expected.
"What's up?"
She couldn't hide how quickly she was feeling and so she just said quietly and strangled: "I need another moment", "This is probably one of the last moments we have together".
Alec immediately recognized what was troubling her. He felt the same inner conflict. On the one hand the relief of having almost made it, on the other hand the farewell was getting closer and closer.
He leaned towards Max and held her briefly, she laid her head against his chest, hiding from him and the children, a tear ran down her cheek. Quiet, unnoticed, but filled with all the pain that was currently flowing through her.
He kissed her brotherly on the hair and, as always, tried to save the situation with a joke before he too succumbed to his emotions.
"Come on, let's take the boys to the country eggs, this is where the fox and the rabbit say goodnight."
But he added: "No one will find them here, it's really the fuck up place in the world."
The postscript was intended to reassure Max but also himself and he really wanted to believe it.
Max quickly caught himself.
She quickly packed up and followed Alec to this still unknown place.
They didn't have to go much longer. Despite the falling darkness, Alec was able to orient himself well.
He found the path again without hesitation and led the three of them purposefully towards the country house.
Despite the rush and the desire to finally be safe and to finally be able to get some rest, this time Alec stayed behind with the children. He stood there with Ben in his arms and Seth by his hand, where he could watch what was happening in front of the house but was not immediately seen.
This time Max led the way. They had discussed it that way because they didn't know exactly whether they had chosen the right house and Max, as a woman, was less conspicuous at first and people weren't afraid when this delicate-looking person stood in front of them.
Max knocked confidently, ready to immediately conjure up a story about the broken car or something similar if it was the wrong door. They had received sufficient training in Manticore to quickly adapt to situations and use their stimuli as a diversionary tactic.
But it seemed as if she had knocked on the right door.
An older woman opened the door.
Max said: "Hello, my name is Asha, can I use the phone with you for a moment?"
The woman replied: "It's nice that you stopped by, Asha. Your aunt has already registered you."
Now it was clear to Max that she was right and she quickly signaled Alec from his hidden position to bring the children.
Now everything had to happen quickly.
Alec immediately came closer, the path suddenly seemed incredibly long to him. His heart was pounding but he didn't show it and strolled to the front door with the children as a matter of course.
The four entered the house.
It was still in a pretty run-down state, according to the pulse back then 15 years ago, but it was lovingly furnished and seemed like the perfect home.
She took the children from Alec, kissed each of them on the forehead and whispered something in their ears.
Alec took the opportunity to make a quick report in Terminal City, they only exchanged a few words, then Alec hung up again.
The news he had received shocked him deeply and almost upset him. But he was able to turn his back to Max for a moment, take a deep breath and he decided to wait until they were on the way back.
Max handed the children to the older woman and she pushed Alec back towards the door.
Alec handed an envelope to the older woman who introduced herself as Marga.
He was now the one who couldn't leave immediately without taking another long look at the children because the news he had just received was more than disturbing.
She pushed him in the chest a little harder.
"Hey, don't dream around here," she said harshly.
"Yes, yes, I'm going," he barely managed to say.
Max knew that look in his eyes. She had seen this pain before, back when the Rachel Berrisford story broke.
But why did she see this flaring up in him again now?
He quickly caught himself and the two left the house. They waved briefly to the children as if it were some kind of vacation and then closed the door.
Alec grabbed Max's hand and held it during the short sprint to the old oak tree, into the protective darkness. He needed this right now, to hold on, to just hold on to something.
There in the black night, Max vigorously shook off his grip.
"What's the point Alec, I'm no longer a child that you can drag away by the hand."
"Ah, Miss do not touch me is back," he replied sarcastically.
Then he quickly turned to leave before she noticed how much he needed support when Max stopped him and, so to speak, fell into the arms of the completely surprised Alec.
She was crying heartbreakingly and he didn't know what to do or say, so he just stood there, holding her and waiting.
He felt like sobbing too, but once again he pulled himself together and swallowed his feelings.
They stood there under the cover of darkness for several minutes until Max caught himself.
She looked up at him: "If you talk about this to anyone, I will personally cut out your tongue."
He looked at her, nodded without saying anything in response and they made their way back in silence to a reality without a family idyll.
Alec decided to wait a few more moments and reveal the bad news on the way back to Seattle.
They had seen train tracks on their way. Max had the idea to use the freight train to get back to Seattle faster. Both of them had already heard that a train was approaching so Alec agreed and they sprinted off when the train was already in sight. They barely managed to get up and the journey back was now more pleasant for them. Still in silence, they sat next to each other and leaned their heads against each other.